Dottie the Hen Got Caught Again

I hadn’t had to shoo her out of the younger hens’ coop in awhile. I usually check the cams before the doors close and saw her in there again.
She knew the gig was up when she either saw me through the window or heard me coming :laughing:.

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Haha, she knew it was time to run!

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Solution: :sweat_smile:

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:heart_eyes: food :heart_eyes:

,
City boy here. Please explain why she wasn’t allowed in that coop.

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I thought about it a few times, but she’s a good laying hen.

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My daughter wanted chickens so we went in on it together and keep them here since I’m on an acre. We started with a dozen chicks with a good sized coop. A few months later got 2 Wyandottes that were 2 weeks older and bigger. That didn’t matter and they still got picked on so much that they’d run from the others all the time. One of them finally assimilated into the flock, but the other didn’t. And to this day Dottie is (literally) hen pecked, and at night she would be the last to go inside at night and would hide in one of the nesting boxes at night. Hens poop at night, too, so it would get messy. So I dismantled the boxes that were hanging at the end of their coop (the kind you can walk up to and open an outside door to get the eggs) and I put cat litter boxes on the floor for them (since hens naturally lay their eggs in safe places on the ground anyway, they really like them).

Sooo…we got 6 more girls and separated them for a few months. I built them their own little coop you see in the video. They know that’s their coop as well and they all go in their homes at dusk. They did well after I merged them together in the yard, but Dottie picked on them the most. And when she saw that their coop was a good place to get a reprieve she started going in there at night as well. I wouldn’t have minded, but she would literally grab them by the neck feathers and toss them off the roosting bars (I posted a video of that a few months back)! So I put a stop to that the first night, because they were left outside the coop and couldn’t get back in after the door automatically closed.

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Thanks for the explanation.

Ever heard of this ?

[Coop Boss (Chicken Coop Management with a Propeller and SmartThings) | LEARN.PARALLAX.COM.

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I’ve seen a number of different doors. Hadn’t seen that one, though. Thanks. I do have automatic doors on both of my coops, and sometimes they’ll malfunction. But I always check them at night to make sure they close, and in the morning to make sure they open. My 94 yr old mother out in Calif watches my outdoor cams, too, and will also call me if she sees something I need to take care of.

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Your Chicken Condos need a “Doorman” and I have just the guy to do the job. :astonished:
Doorman

:open_mouth:

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His name is Philippus Phaks, his cell is 1-800-447-3309 or 1-800-HIR-EFOX. Available 24/7 :upside_down_face:

Ha, don’t you mean “800-FIR-EFOX”?

No he likes to eat (“HIRE FOX”) , he gets a new coat every year.

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Ohhh right. :rofl:

@AnnWithAPlan

Chicken gangs. Bet they could do some damage in groups.

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Before I had chickens one of the neighbors had two of them that kept coming into my yard and tearing up my gardens. I finally complained enough that they penned em up and the very next day the big fat one up and died. :pensive: