- Jun 2, 2009
- 4
- 0
- 7
Hi - longtime lurker here, with a big dilemma. I started out almost a year ago with some surprise chickens that my husband got me. I wanted a few well-mannered large hens for egg-laying purposes, but instead DH got me three pairs of nasty little bantams. I managed to pare them down to three - 2 hens and a rooster. I later got three Plymouth rocks, and 3 months ago I got eight new chicks. The older chickens are in a fancy Horizon prefab chicken coop, and the younguns are in a rabbit hutch inside a dog kennel. They're all let out into the yard during the day.
As of about 4 weeks ago *both* of my bantam hens went broody and they both set up shop in a small cardboard box inside the rabbit hutch. They're sitting on a huge clutch of eggs. It's so cute the way they fan out their little tails and growl at me when I point my finger at them. But when their eggs hatch, there won't be room in the little box, and the chicks won't be able to get out to get food. If I line the bottom of the hutch and let them out, they'll fall through the bars to the outside. I'll also be displacing the older chicks, who nest inside the hutch at night. If I take them inside I can handle them more and make them more tame, but I'll have to separate them from their mommies and keep my bathroom heated up.
I didn't want bantams to begin with and I'd like to get rid of the lot of them, especially since two of the new brood turned out to be males. But I don't know if I can even give these away, since one of the original bantams died of Marek's disease and I assume the survivors are still carrying it. Blech. What am I supposed to do with all these tiny chickens? Help!
As of about 4 weeks ago *both* of my bantam hens went broody and they both set up shop in a small cardboard box inside the rabbit hutch. They're sitting on a huge clutch of eggs. It's so cute the way they fan out their little tails and growl at me when I point my finger at them. But when their eggs hatch, there won't be room in the little box, and the chicks won't be able to get out to get food. If I line the bottom of the hutch and let them out, they'll fall through the bars to the outside. I'll also be displacing the older chicks, who nest inside the hutch at night. If I take them inside I can handle them more and make them more tame, but I'll have to separate them from their mommies and keep my bathroom heated up.
I didn't want bantams to begin with and I'd like to get rid of the lot of them, especially since two of the new brood turned out to be males. But I don't know if I can even give these away, since one of the original bantams died of Marek's disease and I assume the survivors are still carrying it. Blech. What am I supposed to do with all these tiny chickens? Help!
