Chook Me!

why won't my chicks forage?!?

I have 6 chicks (3 orpingtons, 2 americaunas, 1 kuku marans) about 2.5 months old. They've grown up in a pen in my basement, and since they have all their feathers and the weather is warm/mild, I've let them outside during the day for about a week now. They peck and scratch a bit outside - one even ate a spider today! - but for the most part, they just hang out all day. When I take them back to their home in the basement they attack the feed like they've been starving all day. I've tried scattering feed during the day to get them thinking about foraging, but it seems like they just concentrate on the feed and not the bigger picture of searching for food. Am I expecting too much of them at this point? Also a factor is that our Brittney Spaniel herds the chickens. *sigh* He does not hurt them, but he likes them to be all together. I've put him in the house for hours at a time, and when I check on the chicks they are usually all hanging out together as if he's still there. They seem fine with him being around; I've seen them go toward him if he's in the way of where they want to go and he shies away from them and lets them pass. I've never had chickens before, so I have no good feeling for what is "normal" and what isn't. They are quite docile and won't usually run from me. They have trained themselves (ha!) to gather around the pet carrier in the evenings, ready to head back to the basement. I can't complain about their behavior at all, except I feel like they shouldn't act like they're starving when they get to the feeder. Oh, and I feed them fruit scraps; they love oranges and watermelon. So I know they realize that other things qualify as food . . . Well, I could write all day about my chickens, but I'll just say thanks in advance to anyone who has suggestions. Oh, and the reason they're in the basement is because we are so rural we have bears, foxes, raccoons, and every other sort of predator, and I don't think my coop is predator proof yet. Thanks! Lora

Public Comments

1. Lora, The chicks are doing normal chick things. They always hang out together. Coming home to roost at night is perfectly normal, and then there is the 'great chicken lie'. I can't help but laugh because most of the animals here tell "the great chicken lie", no matter how well fed they are. You could give them access to unlimited feed and they would still act like they were starving! Every animal I have acts like it's never had any food when they think they might have an opportunity to get some more. :) Enjoy them. They are precious aren't they? I have about 20 chicks in the house myself right now.