Integrating littles with bigs

[trudyg]

I currently have 12 bantam chicks, 4 weeks old, in the garage in a pen that is 8' x 4'x 3'h. I need the garage space and want to move the chicks into the big's space which is an 18' x 14 ' metal covered carport that is enclosed w/ 1/2" wire mesh. There are 2 hens in there now. The enclosed space with their roost is a 6'x6' block wellhouse (cool in the hot weather, protected in cold). Their roost is 18" away from one wall and 6' long. They lay their eggs in there near the door and the floor is concrete, so I can rake out the bedding as needed. The entire space was gravel but I have been steadily adding sand, wood chip bedding, peat moss and garden soil to cover the gravel. In several spots that seemed apt for dustbaths, I have raked away the gravel and made a nice, wide spot with peat moss/soil for them. So far so good.

The chick pen is constructed of 4' long panels, so I can have the chicks in one half while I move the other half into the run, move them in there and then follow with the other half. Over the top, I have panels with wire (basically so my cats can't jump in with them) that I can use to keep the bigs out. I plan to use a baby gate at the one end so they can see each other, then raise it up 3 or 4 inches so the littles can come in and out safely. There is plenty in the run for them to hide under/behind -- I have a 2' wide length of lattice up on bricks the bigs can't get under, one of those half-pallets that is 8' long tilted against one wall, a 2X4X8 hanging perch 1' off the ground and another 5' off the ground (makes it easy for me to maneuver to clean the floor).

So far, so good, but I really think that, as they grow, the space won't be big enough. What would you think if I built a chicken tractor, say 4X8X 2' high, and made it so I could move it around the perimeter of the big space? I could add removable panels to the main enclosure that would allow me to open or close the opening off as I move the tractor around? That way everyone could have actual grass under their feet daily. Also, the block building won't be big enough for them all to roost once winter comes, so I need to rig up something protected from wind/rain at some time in the future. I'm sure some of the chicks will be male, so that number will be reduced to one, and I have someone looking for pullets, so I may give some of these away as well. I want only 6 egg layers and one cock in the end.

this is so frustrating for me, since I have a great coop and fenced area--but my old flock would fly out of it and a fox got most of them. The 2 remaining were put in the chick enclosure for safety, so I'm rethinking the whole thing. Long range, I want bantams/silkies in the most secure location as setters/chick raisers and then heavies in the old space to grow out since they won't fly over the fence being too heavy. I doubt I could move a good setting brooder hen into that space, she being able to fly and too small for any male attention from a heavy. Do bantam roos manage to mate with large hens, I wonder? Or should that not even be attempted? Just thinking out loud. Sorry for the long post, but I don't want to do one thing and then wish I had done another. Thanks for any input. And, for any who read my previous posts, new baby at 3 weeks old is out of NICU, still in hospital but looking good for release this week and our lives are settling in. The children I was keeping 24/7 are now here only during the day and we have gotten into a routine so all is going smoothly. (No tv or devices during the day does wonders for stopping stress in young kids, trust me.) Thanks for the prayers.

 

[rosemarythyme]

No real experience with tractors or roos but your integration plan sounds fine. You probably do have space for all the birds if you want them but if that wasn't the intention then plan on reducing the flock to the number of birds you do want once you can sex them.

I plan to use a baby gate at the one end so they can see each other, then raise it up 3 or 4 inches so the littles can come in and out safely.

This will be too large, especially for bantams. Aim for maybe 2" high which is enough for standard size chicks up to around 8 weeks to squeeze through.

 

[trudyg]

Thanks. I'll adjust the height of the opening to what they can handle. As long as the bigs can't get in, the opening can be fairly big, I think. Square footage math says the space is plenty, I just think it looks too small. But, I can wait to make any alterations until I see what it looks like as they grow.

 

[gtaus]

this is so frustrating for me, since I have a great coop and fenced area--but my old flock would fly out of it and a fox got most of them. The 2 remaining were put in the chick enclosure for safety, so I'm rethinking the whole thing.

Sounds like you have a nice setup. I have bird netting on the top of my chicken run fence to keep hawks and eagles out, but it also keeps the chickens in and they cannot fly out of the run. Bird netting is very inexpensive, and you can get just about any size from Amazon.

I could add removable panels to the main enclosure that would allow me to open or close the opening off as I move the tractor around? That way everyone could have actual grass under their feet daily.

Since I don't let my chickens free range - ever - I dump all my grass clippings and raked leaves into the chicken run. My chicken run has been converted into a chicken run composting system and the compost feeds my chickens with lots of bugs and juicy worms. I harvest the chicken run compost about twice a year and use it in my raised garden beds.

I had considered going the chicken tractor route, but opted for saving the grass clippings from mowing and just dumping them in the run. Works much better for me. I bring the free range to my chickens. As the mowing needs slow down during the summer, I just mow smaller parts of the lawn so the chickens have fresh grass clippings every few days.

 

[trudyg]

Thank you, gtaus. My big chicken coop is over 1/2 acre, so not possible to cover it all with netting. Even the parts that I do cover, I need to move it so I can mow. I guess your area is manageable for them to keep scratched up, but mine is too big for the number of birds to keep the grass down. Even when I put raked leaves in there, they don't get them composted down. In the place I have them now, they manage it.

 

[gtaus]

Thank you, gtaus. My big chicken coop is over 1/2 acre, so not possible to cover it all with netting. Even the parts that I do cover, I need to move it so I can mow. I guess your area is manageable for them to keep scratched up, but mine is too big for the number of birds to keep the grass down. Even when I put raked leaves in there, they don't get them composted down. In the place I have them now, they manage it.

Wow! Over 1/2 acre for the chickens!

Given you have such a large chicken run, and if I understand correctly that you have less than 16 chickens, why would you need a chicken tractor?

If your main problem is chickens flying out of the chicken run and getting eaten by foxes, maybe you could clip their wings to prevent them from flying out.

Yes, my chickens do a great job turning the compost litter in my limited chicken run. If you wanted to make compost in your much larger chicken run, then you might have to make a much smaller section just for making compost. My chicken run compost litter is anywhere between 12-18 inches deep. Nature would compost the leaves and grass clippings by itself, given time, but the chickens just speed up the process with their constant scratching and pecking. A good chicken run compost litter is full of life, including all those tasty bugs and juicy worms. My chickens love eating that stuff and my commercial feed bill is about half during the summer months.

 

[trudyg]

I'm sorry but, if you read the thread, you will see that they are not in the big yard, but in a smaller one because a fox got most of the hens. I have a smaller, 20 X 22 roughly, area for chicks that I put the 2 remaining hens in to keep them safe. No one is in the large area at this point because they fly out. The small area they are in now will, eventually, become compost. It had our tractor parked under it so there's lots of gravel, but I've put in several loads of sand and, periodically, I put in several bags of soil or bales of peat moss. There is a block well-house in there with a concrete floor covered with pine flakes and the bigs roost in there and lay their eggs. The littles, now just over 7 weeks old, have started roosting on the top of the brooder box and soon, I think, will roost higher up since I've added a 2X4 'swing' hanging from the rafters. Several are crowing and getting very red, everyone is growing nicely. It's hot, upper 90's, and I have a hose that leaks--leaving a nice, damp spot in the sand and they all sit there off and on during the day. I'm happy with the situation, but wish I could use that big area. If I can come up with some way to secure it I'll put them there but, until then, they're in the small space. Still enough square footage for the number of birds, just what I consider small because I'm used to a very large space.