Hey Gang! Whatcha think of my plans and Rooster issue? - Page 18

This may depend on how tight you want it to be, and the weather in your area, mostly wind, but I just bought cheap vinyl fencing for the top of my run to keep the hawks out.  My original plan was to string wire between all the posts (my run is about 30x30 square) and hope the wire would be confusing enough to discourage the hawks.  I didn't work- I had a 6 week old disappear out of the run in the middle of the day.  I got the fencing for like $10 per 50 foot roll (it's like 3 feet wide I believe- 2 rolls and a couple scraps of hardware cloth I had laying around covered the whole thing) at the fleet farm store.  Definitely cost effective.  Then I only had to lay it across the wires I already had up.  I was a little worried the weight would pull the wires out, but it's been up for over a year now and survived all kinds of weather, including snow.  It's attached in a few places with little pieces of wire, but not terribly securely.  BUT we are almost completely sheltered from the wind in every direction, so I don't know if that would work as well in a more open place.

WOW!  you have put alot into your run area!  It looks GREAT!

im jelous

i just brought a 6x4 shed and made a attachable run but it aint half as neat as yours

i will post pics of mine when fully complete

:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by azygous 

Why kneel? It's high enough so you could place a stool or bench at the tail gate for "visiting hours"! That's another dividend to side access - saves wear and tear on the back. I suggest you add a ten inch threshold across the back to hold bedding in place and also keep tiny chicks from falling out while you clean and visit.

 

I learned about scared chicks and trying to access the brooder box placed on the floor with my second batch of babies. My very first chicks came to me at three weeks old from Craig's List, and they had already been rendered extremely "people friendly" by their first human. I raised the second batch of a dozen Wyandottes from day-olds. They never did learn to trust being handled, always scared of hands reaching for them.

 

I ran across a BYC post discussing this problem right before my third batch of babies were to arrive. That's when the lightbulb went off in my head. My Wyandotte chicks had been every bit as scared of my hands reaching in for them from the top of the brooder as they might have had I been a hawk diving at them from the sky!

 

I got busy making a brooder I could place on a table and I cut an access door in the side. When the chicks came, they were trusting and friendly from day one! I've done all my brooders this way ever since, and have never had a single baby chick run away from me in fear. All have grown up to be easily handled while my Wyandottes still run from me when I need to pick them up.

 

If you really want chicks who will be eager to interact with their humans, try cutting windows in your brooder so they can see the world and the people in it.  (I used cardboard appliance boxes or my brooders and I simply taped plastic over the holes.) This helps them become used to people earlier, and it makes for adult chickens who won't run from you in screeching fright when you approach them

This is why my chicks are so skittish.  Thanks for the revelation, do you think 3 weeks is too old to change those feelings with different access?

I don't think three-weeks is too old at all to begin building trust. 

When you first begin to meet them at eye-level, they'll quickly see that your hands are part of you. There's nothing better than treats from your hand to begin the process. Let them eat out of your palm. Leave your hand there after the food is gone, permitting the chicks to explore it.

When they stop being nervous when you place your hand in the brooder, slowly move the edge of your hand up to a chick's toes and nudge its feet. It will probably walk up onto your hand. Try that for a day, just letting them play on your hand. 

Next day, when they hop onto your hand, move it up and down a few inches. Get them used to being moved in your hand. Within a couple days, your chicks should be pretty used to being handled. After that, take them out and begin serious lap-training. That is, if you want lap hens who love to be cuddled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by azygous 

I don't think three-weeks is too old at all to begin building trust. 

 

When you first begin to meet them at eye-level, they'll quickly see that your hands are part of you. There's nothing better than treats from your hand to begin the process. Let them eat out of your palm. Leave your hand there after the food is gone, permitting the chicks to explore it.

 

When they stop being nervous when you place your hand in the brooder, slowly move the edge of your hand up to a chick's toes and nudge its feet. It will probably walk up onto your hand. Try that for a day, just letting them play on your hand. 

 

Next day, when they hop onto your hand, move it up and down a few inches. Get them used to being moved in your hand. Within a couple days, your chicks should be pretty used to being handled. After that, take them out and begin serious lap-training. That is, if you want lap hens who love to be cuddled.

I went straight to the chicks, cut a hatch in the side of the box (I'm using a cardboard box and decided it would be no more traumatizing to saw into it with them hiding in the opposite corner than removing them all to another box and then putting them back).  I had been handfeeding them once or twice a day, so I stuck my hand into the side of the box and then slowly moved it out.  I ended up with two on my hands and one on my leg!!!  My husband opened the door and they didn't move.  He said "what are you doing"  I said "playing with my chickens  "  He said, "They are chickens, they are food."  I said "No, they are pets."  He just shook his head and shut the door.

Anyway THANK YOU!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonySorrento 

Had a few hours after work today to work on the run ...

Awesome run! 

My chicks came...all doing really well.