It began innocently enough as most adventures do. After years of saying, "no chickens, never again", in April 2017 I came home with new chicks. To be honest, it was self defense. While I was recuperating from a serious illness, my doc had informed me I'd not be doing anything much for months. She said: Months! NO garden, no camping, nothing more exerting than reading.
So I went to the feed store where I'd been drooling over the little fluff balls. Four would work. HAH. The Buffs were 2 for the price of one, the Easter Eggers (sold as Black Aracaunas) were lovely and there was this little bedraggled Bantam who needed a home and was free. 7 instead of four.
We set up the soft sided dog playpen under a side table, with a seed mat for heat, shavings, food and water and off we went.
First task, teaching Zooey, the Catahoula they were/are Her chicks. She believes it to this day and will not allow visiting dogs, the cat or kittens anywhere near her feathered friends.
Second task: assemble the prefab coop, in the dining room of course <G>. Our very own home entertainment center. (again, in self defense, April. Montana. Not a good time to put littles out unless there's a well designed brooder/grow out pen ready for them. Here's another justification: The pre-fab got us started and taught us what we did and did not need/want!)
As you can imagine, the pre-fab was way too small. We amended it, and when the chicks were feathered out and temps somewhat stabilized, they and their home went out on the grass.
My intention was to have a mobile run for them, so we built a hoop run.
Irrigation pipe was used for the hoop arcs (pvc pipe degrades over time. Black irrigation pipe is inexpensive, flexible and lasts forever. In the next installment there will be a photo of the clamp used to attach the pipe to the wood framework), pneumatic tires, plus all the usual mis-steps with various wire types. There is a length of conduit at the arc of the pipe for stability.
Shade cloth was added early on. The run is 4' x 10', with people size doors on each end. It was designed to dock to the coop and was easy for me to move about the property (I am short and not athletic, plus, remember that "no activity " caution. HAH). We also put wheels on the coop. Pneumatic tires were essential to accommodate our irregular terrain.
The chicks loved the set up. They would scurry from the coop to the run, follow as the run was pushed about, then at the end of the day, gladly scurry back to the coop. A clear distance of 10' was not too far. They bonded to both structures.
Spring became Summer. At some point we began letting the chicks out of the coop, supervised and for short periods of time. At a later point it was obvious that both our dogs were absolutely reliable with the chicks and that the chicks knew their routines. Free Ranging began.
-to be continued-
So I went to the feed store where I'd been drooling over the little fluff balls. Four would work. HAH. The Buffs were 2 for the price of one, the Easter Eggers (sold as Black Aracaunas) were lovely and there was this little bedraggled Bantam who needed a home and was free. 7 instead of four.
We set up the soft sided dog playpen under a side table, with a seed mat for heat, shavings, food and water and off we went.
First task, teaching Zooey, the Catahoula they were/are Her chicks. She believes it to this day and will not allow visiting dogs, the cat or kittens anywhere near her feathered friends.
Second task: assemble the prefab coop, in the dining room of course <G>. Our very own home entertainment center. (again, in self defense, April. Montana. Not a good time to put littles out unless there's a well designed brooder/grow out pen ready for them. Here's another justification: The pre-fab got us started and taught us what we did and did not need/want!)
As you can imagine, the pre-fab was way too small. We amended it, and when the chicks were feathered out and temps somewhat stabilized, they and their home went out on the grass.
My intention was to have a mobile run for them, so we built a hoop run.
Irrigation pipe was used for the hoop arcs (pvc pipe degrades over time. Black irrigation pipe is inexpensive, flexible and lasts forever. In the next installment there will be a photo of the clamp used to attach the pipe to the wood framework), pneumatic tires, plus all the usual mis-steps with various wire types. There is a length of conduit at the arc of the pipe for stability.
Shade cloth was added early on. The run is 4' x 10', with people size doors on each end. It was designed to dock to the coop and was easy for me to move about the property (I am short and not athletic, plus, remember that "no activity " caution. HAH). We also put wheels on the coop. Pneumatic tires were essential to accommodate our irregular terrain.
The chicks loved the set up. They would scurry from the coop to the run, follow as the run was pushed about, then at the end of the day, gladly scurry back to the coop. A clear distance of 10' was not too far. They bonded to both structures.
Spring became Summer. At some point we began letting the chicks out of the coop, supervised and for short periods of time. At a later point it was obvious that both our dogs were absolutely reliable with the chicks and that the chicks knew their routines. Free Ranging began.
-to be continued-
.