My chicks like their swing!

[Peeps n Bees]

My 3-week-old barred rocks, Salt 'n' Pepa. Always on the swing! I didn't think they'd actually use it, but figured it was worth a shot, since it would be adorable if they did. My two orps don't use it quite as much.

http://i.imgur.com/TjLde2W.gifv

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Aw that is adorable. That is a great addition to the chick brooder. You will have to make a bigger swing for their chicken run.

 

[Peeps n Bees]

Aw that is adorable. That is a great addition to the chick brooder. You will have to make a bigger swing for their chicken run.

Definitely! I'm already researching better designs for the run, now that I know they'll actually use it.

 

[Blooie]

I used a swing for my Littles last year and they loved it. So I put a big one in their run when they got older. Mine isn't what you visualize as a swing, though, because as they got bigger they weren't as crazy about swinging wildly. They preferred it more subtle.

So we drilled a hole in each end of very large, slightly V shaped limb. We poked a very long length of sturdy wire through several times in each hole. Then we attached the free end of the wire to the run, but didn't cinch it up tightly. The result is a large tree limb that they can climb around on, going from the low V in the center to the higher ends. It swings, but not so much that it spooks them if another one joins them up there. They have two branches attached to the run - one swings, one doesn't. They usually hang out on the swinging one.


In this shot you can clearly see the V I was talking about. It's about 8 or 9 feet long. The roost on the right swings. It meets up with the one that doesn't swing and I think you can see that second roost just coming off to the left of the swing.



Some of the heavier Brahmas on the stationary roost while one of the other chickens is on the swing. The Brahmas seem to prefer the stationary roost, I think because of their size and weight.



When we first built the run, we had the swing on the east side and they basked in the morning sun on it. These are last year's chicks at about 15 weeks old. After we expanded the run, we switched which sides the stationary and the swinging roosts were on. They immediately found their swing.

I can go out and take some better shots of the way we ran the wire through if you'd like, because I sure didn't explain it very well.

 

[Peeps n Bees]

That's great, Blooie! Thank you for the pictures and description!

 

[b.hromada]

That's so cute! They look quite happy too!

 

[drumstick diva]

Peeps n bees, they are adorable on their swing. Must feel the same as sitting on a branch on a windy day. They don't need anyone to push them.