Scared Chickens-Advice please

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Steeleydan

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On Wednesday we purchased 20 point of lay brown hens. They are in a big grass run with a house to go in at night. We have had chickens before, but these seem scared to come out of the house in a morning they are all just huddled up together, this morning my Mum shooed them out and made them go out, but they are now in a corner of the grass run all together, it a very large fox proof run with tall mesh panel fencing and loads of grass for them to pick at and scratch round, water and plenty of bowls of corn, layers pellets and layers mash, will they get more friendly we have never had this before? Also cant remember from past chickens but how long does it take for point of lay chickens to start laying? Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
 
Whenever we get new chucks we don't let them out of their house for at least a week to get used to their new surroundings.
Don't shoo them out, it will just make them more scared out the outside. Let them come out in their own time.
 
They won't lay until they're good and ready I'm afraid even if they are 'due' to, unless they are perfectly happy and relaxed in their surroundings. Give them peace and quiet, let them settle in in their own time, don't force anything and they will soon come around. It's quite possible they have never been outside before so it's all alien to them and very frightening. Give them time and some breathing space, they'll come around, might take a fortnight or so but what's the hurry, they're only young birds?.
 
So long as you have 'fake' eggs in the nesting boxes they should lay in them fine. They are more likely to lay within the house than outside as that is where chucks generally feel safe, thats why they shouldn't be forced out of their safe place.
 
Thanks everyone, now going to try and persued my dad to leave them alone and leave the house door open so they can come and go as they please doesnt matter about locking the house at night cos foxey cant get into the run. Now my sister is saying if we leave the food outside in the feeders will they come out for it or will they stay in house and starve? Cant remember new hens been as shy as this before.
 
We leave new hens in their house for the first few days to give them time to settle and adjust to their new surroundings. Hens are very sensitive creatures. We've just rehomed a dozen ex battery hens and it has been amazing to witness how quickly they adjust to a new environment. They are already scratching around, enjoying dust baths, following the cockerel when he inspects the boundaries and generally having fun and behaving like, well, chickens. They still get a bit frantic at feed time but even that is slowly improving. Chickens are lovely creatures and have much more intelligence than they are usually given credit for.
 
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Thanks everyone, now going to try and persued my dad to leave them alone and leave the house door open so they can come and go as they please doesnt matter about locking the house at night cos foxey cant get into the run. .

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My friend left her chickens in their run (fox proof) with the hen house door open overnight, she looked for them in the morning ... they were all gone
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the fox had dug a hole underneath the run and had got the lot ... be careful!
 
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