This is a question given by my six year old daughter and some of her friends. It is a kind to ticklish question to answer, so we decided to see how the birds operate as a pair. My daughter and her eight year old brother got it in their minds to run a trial. My daughter was gifted a hen of her choosing and I selected a stag that was suitable for the job as easy to handle. Daughter named the hen "Love Heart" and my son named the stag "Trace". We must have 20 chickens with names which makes me queasy sometimes.
My requirement is we are to purchase nothing extra to conserve money. We rounded up materials to construct an elevated nest made of a black plastic milk crate, cardboard from a cereal box, and bungee cords all attached to a pair of T-posts. Kids added some soil and grass for nesting materials. Then we rounded up a couple pens that are soon to be replaced by much heavier versions. A hole was cut into each pen and my son tied them together using short wires be cut to length by bending them repeatedly to promote failure by fatigue. The holes where aligned so the birds can use both pens. One pen covered the nest with shade while the other pen provided more space and will be where feed is applied. In day or so we will place a game camera so we can monitor activity in the nest. If all goes well we will post what is happening so my daughters teacher than distribute findings to the whole class. The kids are already learning a lot. First round of images below.
My requirement is we are to purchase nothing extra to conserve money. We rounded up materials to construct an elevated nest made of a black plastic milk crate, cardboard from a cereal box, and bungee cords all attached to a pair of T-posts. Kids added some soil and grass for nesting materials. Then we rounded up a couple pens that are soon to be replaced by much heavier versions. A hole was cut into each pen and my son tied them together using short wires be cut to length by bending them repeatedly to promote failure by fatigue. The holes where aligned so the birds can use both pens. One pen covered the nest with shade while the other pen provided more space and will be where feed is applied. In day or so we will place a game camera so we can monitor activity in the nest. If all goes well we will post what is happening so my daughters teacher than distribute findings to the whole class. The kids are already learning a lot. First round of images below.
