Chicken jail

[Kaesi2020]

Hi everyone, does anyone have pictures of what their "chicken jail" looks like? I've heard this term used in articles and threads about bullying as well as for broody hens. I'm assuming the setup for the time out spot is different though depending on if its bullying or broodiness? Any pics would be appreciated.

 

[Chickenman1994]

 

[Chickenman1994]

You could build one and keep it around in case you ever had to separate or whatever you may need I’ve added it up it usually costs me about 30$ per pen. The measurements are 2 2x4’s at 45” long and 2 2x4’s at 48” long this will make a perfect 4 ft square one piece of 2x4 welded wire cut at 10ft and 2 pieces of 2x4 welded wire cut at 4ft. Take the 10 ft piece and staple it to one side of the 2x4 stretch it over and do the same on the other it will make a dome shape but be flappy then take the 4ft sheer staple it to one of the remaining bare boards gets some hog rings or fence clips go up the sides of the wire and clip them in when you get to the top fold the excess over top and tie it down I like to cut about 2 rows of the wore on the 4ft price on the top so it lays down easier but that’s preference repeat that step on the other side. I usually count 7 square cut them out and make a door on the front but not a must as there light weight and you can lift them up and get under them to get your birds just makes it easier especially if you got one that’s real flighty. And to add the finishing touch get you a nice tarp of your choice to put over it and there you go step by step on how to build a dome pen.

 

[Mother_of_Hens]

Thanks for sharing! It looks like there are two hens in there. So you can put two broody hens in the small pen together?

Yeah, it’s actually a fairly large dog crate (viewed side on) these two are best friends and went broody around a day apart. They are 1 & 3 in the pecking order.
I probably wouldn’t isolate any other combination together but these two were fine.

 

[Chickenman1994]

Wow thanks for this. I really like the way yours are set up. We are going to work on nesting boxes and a brooder/bully pen so these plans will certainly help.

Best nesting box I’ve found works great in these pens is a nice square bucket like a cat litter bucket or a 5 gallon bucket I screwed 2x4s around it to keep it from rolling I prefer the square ones like a cat litter bucket you can cut the lid in half to keep the eggs from rolling out. Milk crates work well too.

 

[reluctant farmer]

It's empty right now, but it's ready. (Sorry for thumb)

 

[rosemarythyme]

Thank you. So you break them before they are in full broody mode? What signs do you notice and act on and what do you do to break them of it besides the time out spot?

It's all the same signs as you'd see in a broody (puffing up, tik tik tik chirp, plucked belly), but the bird may not yet be sitting in the nest around the clock. Once they start sitting in the nest for extended periods of time, like a few hours, I begin breaking them at that point. Often get an egg laid in the breaker as well, as they still have eggs in the system at that point since they're not fully broody yet.

I haven't needed to do anything extra other than isolating them in either the brooder or ex pen.

 

[Chickenman1994]

I don’t have a “chicken jail” but if you wanted to build one you could build a small 4x4 dome pen there cheap and very affective

 

[Kaesi2020]

View attachment 2227865

Wow, great setup!! Do you have more than one because you have a large flock? I have six 12 week old pullets. Do you use these small pens only when someone is being bullied or do you use them for other purposes too?

 

[Mother_of_Hens]

This is our broody breaker