Dumb Chickens

The chickens are now housed in their winter coop. All but one are this year's hatch, and are still growing in most cases. Do they also get smarter with age? I sure hope so. They have a door with a wind tunnel open, and all know how to use that door to exit the coop, however; why is it I have to open the man door to put them in at night? They huddle around the man door or on the step and for some forsaken reason, known only to a chicken, they forget to use the open entrance to go inside. During the day, they do use the door, so I am quite sure they know where it is. What gives? I have to go every night at dusk, open the man door, shoo them inside, and then they are happy. What if I needed to be away in the dead of winter?

Hmmm.

I have a man door but when I want my birds to go out, I make them use their chicken door. Seems birds are overwhelmed by choices. If there is one way in and one way out, they will use it. But the one way in has to be the same way they came out! At least in the beginning. Until they get the hang of it.

Is your wind tunnel difficult or scary? I am having a hard time picturing this.

I have a 12x12 hole in the wall. I have cut up old jeans and stapled the denim, flap like, cut in sections, over the opening to block wind. To get out the chickens have to poke around in the fabric until they find an opening and then scoot out. At first this is too hard and scary! Once they get a little hungry and thirsty (food outside) it gets less hard and scary. IT takes youngsters and newbies a bit to catch on, but they always do.

I would say only let the birds in and out one door until they figure out how to use it. Then you can open the man door for them to come in and out. UNless I have misunderstood you and they get OUT the tunnel, but cluster around the man door at night. In that case I would pick up each chicken (at night) and stuff it back in the hen house through the tunnel! A few of these performances and they should get the hint.

I think chickens like to see where they are going and entering a tunnel may be a difficult concept for them. Claustrophobic. Rather than thinking they are stupid, perhaps they are cautious as a prey animal often is. Time and patience may be what is needed.

Could you please describe this wind tunnel? I am having a difficult time visualizing it too. My Husband has made wind blocks for the chickens in winter so the pop doors can remain open throughout the day without the west wind blowing into the pop doors straight on. I need to get a post going, maybe this morning, about our wind block. How long is this tunnel? I can see that chickens have such a strong desire to head outside to the lightness, but less of a desire to go inside to the darkness. Please describe your wind tunnel. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

Yes, Cynthia, is there a light at the end of their tunnel, Fat Ewe? Or perhaps those birds have heard the Ewe saying how much she dislikes chickens, see no light at the end of their tunnel, and in the interests of self preservation are refusing to enter it!

Amazing how we like to judge an animal as being "dumb" when they don't do or behave the way we want them to.

I have not heard nor seen what a "tunnel" for chickens is. Is the tunnel round or square? Birds usually don't like spaces that they feel confined in.

My birds have a door that goes in and out of their coop. A new bird will often need a few days to learn the concept of going in & out of their coop. Either me or my husband have to go out at night and help the new bird in. Usually after a few days of watching the other birds, the newbie learns and then has no problems.

The few birds I have that free range, rarely need to be cooped at night. That's because they put themselves in and are up by the time anyone goes down there. Even during the day, if my birds sense danger, they immediately head for the barn. They understand that is their home and they know it means safety.

Toybarons, oh ya, gotta agree with the in and out of things. My birds do not have the option of coming out in the morning. But when I open the door, they all head for the wild blue yonder, of course, after they have snacked on their morning snack of hen scratch. Actually, some of the birds don't even bother, they head STRAIGHT out to the horses' paddocks, far more goods out there I guess than the scratch that I offer them. They like the whole oats that go in and come out the same with the horses' butts. Come evening, when the light is low, they all head indoors. Doesn't matter how they get in, but they all go in, they even know their respective coops. I personally think chickens are a heck of a lot more smart than we ever give them credit for. Go figure. I have two foot one inch poultry wire all around one of my gardens. The dudes have figured out how to lift up the bottom of the poultry wire, go in and massacre the remainder of my Swiss chard, grrrrr....ya, they smawwwwwt, they are kind and they are beautiful, beautiful days, CynthiaM.

This is just my personal opinion.

I was brought up to believe that if an animal feels safe and secure in its home, it will be, even if that home is nothing more than a cardboard box. Animals may not have the same understanding as we do, but they are wonderful at picking up on the vibe we humans can give off. The biggest one is that feeling of being safe and secure.

The very first chicken we got was a free range roo my neighbours left behind when they moved because they could not catch him. About a week after they moved, the roo was on my doorstep one morning. For weeks he slept up in the trees. We decided to see if we could get him in our barn where there were no other chickens. Took days to accomplish but we had the roo in the barn. My dad bought us a couple of hens from someone who sold eggs by their driveway. Now we had a trio. We kept them in the barn cause we really had no idea what we were going to do.

Weeks after, when my husband was mowing the lawn, he came running inside in a panic. He forgot to close the barn door and the roo & hens were outside. He was worried they were going to head for the hills and we would never catch them. When we went outside already to round them up, the trio just looked up at us as if asking "Is there a problem?" With little effort on our part, they just walked themselves back to the barn and went in. After that day, I never worried about letting them out of the barn cause I knew they considered it theirs.

I agree completely. I have a neighbour who keeps telling me sheep are stupid. I tell him they are very smart at the things that matter to them. I feel the same way about chickens. They don't have human intelligence but they ARE intelligent in their way. All my sheep, for example, put themselves away at night, I just have to close the door. They all love routine too.

When my dog, who puts away the birds at night (all No Touch) steps into the run - any time of day - the chickens all go into the chicken house. No panic, no fluttering.

I think patience and thinking a little less like a human helps. Also being sure that the chicken house IS a place where they feel safe, secure and happy.

I think Cynthia may have hit the nail on the head. They go in the wind tunnel door in the day time. There is a window in the coop and it is not dark, but there is no light. In the evening at dusk, the coop appears dark and I think that is why they may not go in. I will try to rig up a light tonight and see if that makes a difference. Do you think once they learn to go in when it is lit, that the light could be shut off?

Toybarons, I know I may sound cruel and unfeeling when it comes to chickens and turkeys, but I do care about all life. Every evening I carry the turkeys into their home and close the door, otherwise they would roost in the trees by their own choice. I have insulated their home with straw bales too, so they are not too cold and are sheltered from the wind. I would rather keep them locked up all the time because they stalk me and follow me and poop on everything, plus can be agressive with the chickens, particularly the males. But I feel sorry for them, so I let them out for at least half a day on most days.
And the chickens..well, I do not find them cuddly or particularly appealing, but they are somewhat interesting and useful. It does not matter though; they are also treated as humanely as possible. I hired workers to create a special coop for them, complete with a window, insulation and a wind tunnel door. I will take some photos today and post them. I feed them outside, but there is a small cage inside to house the Japanese bantams. Of course they are fed inside and make a mess, so there is some food dropped inside. I wish there was another way to house the bantams, but this year, this is all I have. The coop is not heated, but that could be a possibility if the weather is extreme. The chickens are fed well, free ranged and I do watch for any signs of injury or illness and try to help them if I can. I would not keep an animals if I could not treat it with respect. So far, I cannot find love for the chickens and turkeys, but I can for the ducks and geese, which I think are a hundred times more appealing and endearing than their feathered friends. There are several of the bantams, Polish?Ameraucana crosses perhaps, but unknown for sure, that do not stay in the coop. I can sometimes get them inside, but the little door is left open and they come out and fly up to the trees to roost. When it gets very cold, I suspect they may roost in the old barn, though it is not warm in that barn at all. Of the 6 cross bantams, 3 will stay inside and the fourth will occasionally, however; the other two (hen and rooster) never do.

Anyhow, what I mean to say in such a long winded way, is that the birds are treated with the same care that any animal is on this farm. They are definitely not neglected or disregarded. They just do not compare to my border collie who can do anything I ask of him with two lessons!

Fat Ewe, I don't think you come across as someone who is either cruel or unfeeling. Not at all.

I know there are more than a few people who think I'm a bit daft because I treat my birds as pets and not as livestock. I just had to kill two month old chicks because they hatched with splayed legs. I hobbled both and gave them vitamins for three weeks. Even massaged their legs to try and get the tendons to go back into place. Hobbles came off and they seemed okay. Momment I took them off the vitamins, the legs began to turn to the point that they could no longer stand. One I was able to kill. The other I botched and the death took longer. I am upset because I failed to do the cull as swift as possible to prevent suffering. It took me all weekend to do what I knew had to be done. I know people who would have just killed them the momment they hatched splayed rather than go through a month of trying to fix their legs.

We all try to do what is best for our livestock.

However, and I say this more as an observation based on other posts you have made, more than a criticism. More than a few of your posts you have refered to your chickens and turkeys as stupid. Even to saying you didn't much like either and at one point even getting rid of them. Most people on poultry forums tend to like their poultry. Eventually people are going to wonder why someone who thinks poultry is stupid is keeping them in the first place.

The Fat Ewe wrote:I think Cynthia may have hit the nail on the head. They go in the wind tunnel door in the day time. There is a window in the coop and it is not dark, but there is no light. In the evening at dusk, the coop appears dark and I think that is why they may not go in. I will try to rig up a light tonight and see if that makes a difference. Do you think once they learn to go in when it is lit, that the light could be shut off?

I think you will see a difference if you rig a light up to show them the way in. Most animals don't like going into an area that is dark, even if the area is familiar. The light should make a difference.

You could turn the light off after your birds are cooped. Your birds will begin to realize this as their routine and will become used to it.

All of our coops have lights. In ours we keep a few low wattage lights on more to prevent night fright within our coops. Injury can happen to birds if they become frightened in a dark coop as all it takes is one bird to startle to set off a chain reaction. By keeping a low wattage light on just to provide some light, it can help prevent a mass panic within the coop if a bird suddenly startles.

Thanks Toy Barons.
The fact that I am learning about chickens, being absolutely new to farming and just having gotten over (90%) of a lifelong phobia of chickens, my humble opinion is that I am trying to like them and refuse to give up. That is why I keep them. I like all life and there is no reason why I cannot find some redeeming qualities in chickens and turkeys that endear me to them. It is ME obviously, not them. But having said that, they will never compare to a border collie and I know there are many people who find border collie energy and vigour beyond their comprehension and hate the dogs. That is why we are all different I guess. I could not keep a chicken as a pet and most likely, others would not choose border collies as their dogs.

I did rig up a light, heat lamp actually, hung with secure wire and screw at ceiling height very near to the roosts and am in the process of setting a timer to turn it on at 4 pm and off at 8 pm. Is that too much light, considering it is a heat lamp as well. Currently it is set on the low setting and is one of the small halogen red bulb lamps. I will take a picture. Comments welcome.

CynthiaM, you are a genius. The light worked like a charm. At first they huddled outside as usual, but then one went in. The others watched and pretty soon they were milling around their tunnel door and one by one they went in, except the bantams again. They went in, came out, flew over the fence and roosted in the pine tree. I don't know what to do about them for winter. Perhaps when it gets very cold, they will seek the warmth of the coop?

However, and I say this more as an observation based on other posts you have made, more than a criticism. More than a few of your posts you have refered to your chickens and turkeys as stupid. Even to saying you didn't much like either and at one point even getting rid of them. Most people on poultry forums tend to like their poultry. Eventually people are going to wonder why someone who thinks poultry is stupid is keeping them in the first place.

You are correct Toybarons. I realized this a while back and was planning to abandon association with chicken forums. For the most part I am only posting when I need help with poultry or to respond to an ad for something. The chickens do the farm good and I am trying my best to like them. Really I am.

Glad to hear the light worked Dont know if you know this but in a heat lamp you can use regular bulbs. That is what we do with ours. We use energy effecient bulbs and only use the heat bulbs when the temps inside the coops goes to -10 or lower. My girls do go under the lamps only when it gets really, really cold.

My boarder collie died 3 years ago. She was 18 years old. She was a good dog and used to drive me crazy with all that energy she had. Loved her though. Great dog.

I took to birds at a real young age. I was the only one in my family that loved them. The rest of my family are all dog people *hee hee.* You can just imagine how our home was? I can understand why some people don't like them. I have met my share of people who were terrorized as a kid by them. I was also. My tale was a duck when I was 5 who flapped me in the face cause I tried to hugg the ducky and ducky was having no part of it. *lol*

I realize birds are not for everyone and I do respect that you are trying to like them.

The heat lamp is a halogen infrared model. I suppose a white bulb could be used but the nature of the bulb is a hotter than incandescent spectrum. I am not sure of the power consumption on low. I tried to set it on a timer but do not have a clue how to do it and it did not work so I will manually unplug it during the day until I figure the timer out.
Border collies are my absolute favourite pet. I am sure getting flapped by a duck was frightening when young. Thank you to everyone who offered advice..much appreciated.

Getting flapped by the duck was more painful than scary