[Flyin Chickens]

My 3 hens have started to become awkward when it comes to night time and do not want to go in to the house.  This has only started in the past 3-4 days but has now been every night.  I find them all perched outside.

They are in a covered (chicken wire) run and it is very cold outside (not windy though).....what problems could I come into if they continued to stay outside so late (I have only just put them to bed and they were not too happy about it)

I am currently having to tempt them out of the run (the run is only 3ft high and so I can go in to put them away) so that I can put them into the hen house through the cleaning door.

Any ideas or tips?


Thanks

[Kiwi]

We do have some very cold nights here over winter ( well about 3 frosts) and mine are determined to roost in the peach tree. After a bit of a panic and some major fights - I just gave in! They sleep there every night. This winter we did have one tropical cyclone and they took themselves into their lovely house then and also if it rains heavily they will choose to go there, but apart from that they prefer the tree!
Can you leave the door open for them or are there too many predators?

[Kate and her Ducks]

No expert but a couple of other people who have had the same problem found that they had red mites in the coop which is why their girls weren't so keen on going to bed.
Just a suggestion.

[poultrygeist]

Also, if your run is only covered in chicken wire, a fox will be in there in a jiffy.

Don't leave them out whatever you do.

As Kate says, there may be somthing in the coop that they don't like. Might be worth giving it a thorough clean out and see if there's any signs of invaders.  :shock:

Rob

[Kiwi]

we're so lucky - there's no foxes in NZ.

[poultrygeist]

Is it right that there's no snakes either ? (my mum is snake phobic :roll: )

What chicken predators are there Kiwi ?

Rob

[Flyin Chickens]

gave it a clean out on Saturday (Poop etc) but will take the floor out today and have a good check.

During the summer (I only had 2 hens) I would leave the door open at night to allow them to be out and about as soon as the sun came up, but I am worried that they may get too cold out side.

[Kiwi]

Is it right that there's no snakes either ? (my mum is snake phobic :roll: )

What chicken predators are there Kiwi ?

Rob

no snakes - I think.
We do have ferrets, rats and stoats, but we have 4 cats which keep these at bay - we did have a bit of a rat issue but have managed to get on top of it for now. No sign of stoats or ferrets whew!
We're really very lucky.
MAF ( ministery of fishing and agriculture) are incredibly careful about what comes into the country. For example NZ would probably not survive a foot and mouth outbreak like we had in the uk - I know it was terrible as I was living there then, but I have no idea how NZ would cope. It's a pretty fragile
country!

[Vember]

Are Opossums not a problem??

Saw a couple flat on the road when I was out there  

Sarah

[poultrygeist]

Is it right that there's no snakes either ? (my mum is snake phobic :roll: )

What chicken predators are there Kiwi ?

Rob

no snakes - I think.
We do have ferrets, rats and stoats, but we have 4 cats which keep these at bay - we did have a bit of a rat issue but have managed to get on top of it for now. No sign of stoats or ferrets whew!
We're really very lucky.
MAF ( ministery of fishing and agriculture) are incredibly careful about what comes into the country. For example NZ would probably not survive a foot and mouth outbreak like we had in the uk - I know it was terrible as I was living there then, but I have no idea how NZ would cope. It's a pretty fragile
country!

Hence its unspoilt natural beauty. Would love to visit but too sparsely populated for me I think. I was told it's a bit like stepping back 40 or 50 years.

Rob

[poultrygeist]

gave it a clean out on Saturday (Poop etc) but will take the floor out today and have a good check.

During the summer (I only had 2 hens) I would leave the door open at night to allow them to be out and about as soon as the sun came up, but I am worried that they may get too cold out side.

If you have chicken wire (as opposed to welded mesh), then it's a ticking time-bomb as far as predators are concerned. If a fox strolls by when they're out and no-one's around, it'll bite through chicken wire or dig under the wire.
It may be that they're just in the habit of being outside when they want.

Rob

[richyrich7]

I think Kates right sounds like mites  :evil:

[Kiwi]

possums are veggies so don't harm chickens, but do a lot of damage to native plant species. A lot of people will run them down on the road on purpose - I just can't bring myself to. We have one lives in our woolshed!

PG I think about 10 years ago ( or more) it was like stepping back 30 years! Now it's not at all. Except for maybe the feeling of safeness and kids playing outside without any worries.
Cafe culture and amazing restaurants are all over the place. The cities are like a city anywhere now  - all hustle and bustle! and very populated.
We live 3 hours from Auckland and are very rural but I just love it. I'd never been to NZ before we emigrated so just took it all as it came!

( we have a holiday house - so if you ever make it over you have a place to stay!!)

[ordinarygull]

I was about to post on this very subject- I have 6 girls, 3 go in happily every night, the other 3 refuse to. Def don't have mite (been there, done that so know the signs). It doesn't seem to be doing them any harm, but is making me anxious on these cold nights - they all seem to snuggle up together though and they seem quite happy!

[poultrygeist]

I think they can cope pretty well with the cold providing they have a bit of shelter though there's the danger of forstbite on their combs.

But they could be vulnerable to predators unless you are 100% certain a fox or other predator can't get into the run and get them.

Could it be that there's not enough perching space or the top 3 are bullying the bottom 3 ?

Rob