THE GIRLS ARE HERE!!!!
Last week, I was getting a bit worried. Our new babies had been ordered and would be arriving soon, and I still had no idea how I was going to set up their brooder. I needed something that would be temporary, would be large enough to house them until they could go outside, and would be strong enough to stand up to a lot of ogling by my 7 and 4 year old grandchildren.
Hubby and I were doing some grocery shopping in the local W-mart and I saw it! The perfect thing!
This watermelon box is perfect! It's big and sturdy, but still lightweight enough to move around relatively easily. Plus...
...those flaps on the bottom mean this thing can be folded up and stored pretty easily (just in case I decide I need more chicks in the future
). But, that big ol' hole in the bottom was going to be a problem on top of the carpeting!
So, I found a box from a dorm-size fridge and cut it to size. This was probably the hardest part of this set up because, although the box looks symmetrical, it's actually not.
Then, I found an old shower curtain liner I had put aside to use as a painting drop cloth, but hadn't gotten around to the painting yet. I wrapped the fridge box cardboard with it:
Then, I just popped it in the bottom! Perfect!
I put the feeder and drinker in on top of the shavings (ran out of paper towels!! I added some brown paper towels later on) and was all set for the girls' arrival.
And, THEY'RE HERE! 5 Black Austrolorps, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Columbian Wyandottes, and 1 Mystery Chick that revealed itself as a Partridge Cochin. We made quite a hit at the local post office!
Everybody seems to be happy with the new digs. I ended up making some mash for them because they seemed to be having a hard time with the crumbles. Incidentally, the small baking sheet works like a charm for this! They can get in and out easily and get to scratch up the food. I left the feeder in there so they can get used to eating out of there, too. I'll take the baking pan out in a day or two as they begin to use the feeder more.
Don't you just love it when they're all asleep?
Thanks for looking!
Last week, I was getting a bit worried. Our new babies had been ordered and would be arriving soon, and I still had no idea how I was going to set up their brooder. I needed something that would be temporary, would be large enough to house them until they could go outside, and would be strong enough to stand up to a lot of ogling by my 7 and 4 year old grandchildren.
Hubby and I were doing some grocery shopping in the local W-mart and I saw it! The perfect thing!
This watermelon box is perfect! It's big and sturdy, but still lightweight enough to move around relatively easily. Plus...
...those flaps on the bottom mean this thing can be folded up and stored pretty easily (just in case I decide I need more chicks in the future
So, I found a box from a dorm-size fridge and cut it to size. This was probably the hardest part of this set up because, although the box looks symmetrical, it's actually not.
Then, I found an old shower curtain liner I had put aside to use as a painting drop cloth, but hadn't gotten around to the painting yet. I wrapped the fridge box cardboard with it:
Then, I just popped it in the bottom! Perfect!
I put the feeder and drinker in on top of the shavings (ran out of paper towels!! I added some brown paper towels later on) and was all set for the girls' arrival.
And, THEY'RE HERE! 5 Black Austrolorps, 5 Buff Orpingtons, 5 Columbian Wyandottes, and 1 Mystery Chick that revealed itself as a Partridge Cochin. We made quite a hit at the local post office!
Everybody seems to be happy with the new digs. I ended up making some mash for them because they seemed to be having a hard time with the crumbles. Incidentally, the small baking sheet works like a charm for this! They can get in and out easily and get to scratch up the food. I left the feeder in there so they can get used to eating out of there, too. I'll take the baking pan out in a day or two as they begin to use the feeder more.
Don't you just love it when they're all asleep?
Thanks for looking!
