[hillbilly]

I read the posts that said ex batts learned from the old timers but I don't have any. .
Will my new chooks figure out how to perch, peck, bathe etc without others to learn from?
Am I going to have to teach them?  :blink: Might be rather fun    if a little mad 

[grumpydad]

they will learn in time, but may need some help, have you read the bhwt website for tips ?. dont forget the tonics and extras to help build them up

[hillbilly]

Thanks for that and the other post grumpydad (love the name!). I'll check that website now.

[Foxy]

Dont worry! They will instinctive know how to be chickens Just watch them enjoy the sun on their backs or launch themselves (in a worryingly accomplished fashion )into your favourite flowerbeds!

[bexy]

You won't have to teach them anything it's instinct.
I have 5 ex batts which i have had since May,they scratch around from the first day,they dustbath,sunbathe and are now getting very adventerous

[GrannieAnnie]

I agree with Foxy and bexy that they know instinctively how to dust bathe, scratch around etc.  the only thing ours took a while to learn sometimes was perching, but they soon get the hang of it when they get fed up with another chook pooping on their head!!!!

[Arnfields]

Absolutely!  Within seconds of having grass beneath their feet they will scratch around in it, it's lovely to watch.

Ours have yet to grasp the concept of sleeping on the perches but that doesn't matter

[hillbilly]

Thanks guys  . That's very comforting though I bet I spend so much time with them I'll start scratching about anyway!!

[Flowerpower136]

Started from scratch with 8 ex bats on 1 August this year.  To start with they stood around, or huddled under the coop, but very very soon they were doing chicken stuff with no teaching necessary.
Now they are a pure job, so inquisitive and cheeky.  It's impossible to get anything done in the pen because of the chicken mob, they've got to check what you doing, help with what you are doing, then do it again their way........... so funny!  The pen is now a death trap for me with dust bath craters all over the place, they turn the soil in my compost bays every day, and rearrange their pen regularly.  Busy, busy, all day long.

[bexy]

haha flowerpower i know what you mean about the dust bath craters lol,at least mine have their craters in the far corner away from the door to the pen.
I have to back fill them everyday as they use them daily   ,it is truely awful to think that for their first years of their lives they have never been able to do this or anything else come to the matter

[judrop]

  Hiya,
We have had our ex batts since July, and whilst they do lots of "chick " type stuff now, thay still dont perch, even with education, we recently bought a couple of new pullets who DO perch, and I thought maybe the ex batts would see and learn, but guess what, yep you guessed they seem to have picked up the non perching from the others !!
re education again !
all the best Ju X

[hillbilly]

All this is so encouraging I'm even more excited!
I love flowerpower 136's post - can they dust bathe in woodash? We had a fire in what is now their run and I'm thinking of leaving the ash pile for them?
Whaddya think?

[raeburg]

They may be a bit puzzled by the ordinary feeders and drinkers (mine were at first) but they soon caught on and watching them change from terrified baldies to feathery bustling characters has been very rewarding.

[Flowerpower136]

Ash would probably be good for feathers, they dust bath to clean and get rid of mites etc, only problem I can think of is that it is so very very fine, might make then sneeze.

Re earlier post, just spotted typo - for 'job' read 'joy'!

About half of mine perch, the others still preferring to huddle. So what, don't see a problem?  As long as they are happy.  I wouldn't force them, if they want to perch, they will, when they are ready. 

Yesterday, Amber managed to perched on my shoulder, she's never done that before   It was a bit precarious and involved a lot of scrambling/flapping, (and a change of tee shirt afterwards), but she managed it, clever chicken. 

Strange thing is happening since clocks when back, is that a couple of them keep getting locked out when the auto door doodah shuts?     Can't be anything to do with the hour, as its light sensitive and not on a timer.  Can only assume they are having problems fitting all their activities into the shorter days.  Will have to adjust the whatsit to give them a bit longer, or rig up a spot light so they can do a bit of overtime.

I dug the floor of the pen over yesterday, and left it all lumps and bumps for them to sort out.  They loved it, they were all helping me to dig, and we had a real worm fest! Yum    

[bexy]

Talking earlier about instinct,while i was digging the garden earlier with all 5 girls around my feet all of a sudden three of them ran to take shelter under a bush while the other two stood rigid stretching their necks and looking upwards towards the sky.
I decided to join in with the other two and also looked upwards to see a very large heron flying over us very slowly. 
How do they know that this could have been a bird of prey that could of attacked them....instinct