My Light Brahma girls are 5 weeks. Feathering out nicely and starting to get a little testy with one another because they've outgrown the brooder box. Lucky for us, the sun decided to shine so I pulled out my dog's camping playpen and gave the girls an afternoon in the grass while I finished up work on their coop.
What excitement! Everyone was testing out their wings and hop/flying all over the pen. I tossed some crumbles in for scratch and they tasted grass and dandelions. Most of them rolled around in the grass trying out their dustbathing technique. Very cute. Eventually they all tired and took a nap in the sunny spot, spreading their wings wide to soak up the rays. I had so much fun watching them, it was hard to concentrate on the finishing touches for their coop. They were so incredibly happy to be out of the brooder box, I didn't have the heart to put them back in it, so I busted my bum to get the coop ready for their first night in their "big bed."
This is "Coop de Ville" - a Little Tykes playhouse remodeled for little tykes of a different feather
I gave them a ceramic tile floor (scraps from the recycle store) for easy cleaning and to cut down on odors soaking into a wood floor. I'm using pine shavings initially for extra warmth in the coop. Nighttime temps are still dropping to the mid-50's, but the girls should be quite comfortable with a 100 watt light and the wood chip bedding. When the weather warms up, I intend to switch the litter over to sand for ease of cleaning. The playhouse coop really doesn't lend itself to the deep litter method so sand seems to be the way to go...just not warm an cozy enough right now at their tender age.
Here's the girls after a couple hours in their new digs. Didn't take long for one of them to figure out the joy of roosting. That's the "baby roost" BTW. As they grow and are able to hop/fly higher, I'll raise the roost. In its final location, the girls will be able to look out the window and enjoy an evening summer breeze. Notice the PVC pipe feeder...many thanks to KatyTheChickenLady for the design idea. I'ma lova lova lovin' it! Girls aren't billing out the feed all over the floor or scratching shavings into it like they did their old conventional feeder. Water is still a problem, but nipple waterers are ordered and on their way
Hope you enjoyed looking at my baby pics. BTW, tonight is their second night in the new coop. I checked on them several times through the evening the first night and they were quite comfortable. Temps in the cool corners were running 60 degrees. Right under the light it was 70-75 degrees. The girls weren't huddled under the light so the cooler temp seems to be tolerable for them even at 5 weeks and not fully feathered. They grow up so fast! Have to change my tag line - they're not fuzzy butts anymore
What excitement! Everyone was testing out their wings and hop/flying all over the pen. I tossed some crumbles in for scratch and they tasted grass and dandelions. Most of them rolled around in the grass trying out their dustbathing technique. Very cute. Eventually they all tired and took a nap in the sunny spot, spreading their wings wide to soak up the rays. I had so much fun watching them, it was hard to concentrate on the finishing touches for their coop. They were so incredibly happy to be out of the brooder box, I didn't have the heart to put them back in it, so I busted my bum to get the coop ready for their first night in their "big bed."
This is "Coop de Ville" - a Little Tykes playhouse remodeled for little tykes of a different feather
I gave them a ceramic tile floor (scraps from the recycle store) for easy cleaning and to cut down on odors soaking into a wood floor. I'm using pine shavings initially for extra warmth in the coop. Nighttime temps are still dropping to the mid-50's, but the girls should be quite comfortable with a 100 watt light and the wood chip bedding. When the weather warms up, I intend to switch the litter over to sand for ease of cleaning. The playhouse coop really doesn't lend itself to the deep litter method so sand seems to be the way to go...just not warm an cozy enough right now at their tender age.
Here's the girls after a couple hours in their new digs. Didn't take long for one of them to figure out the joy of roosting. That's the "baby roost" BTW. As they grow and are able to hop/fly higher, I'll raise the roost. In its final location, the girls will be able to look out the window and enjoy an evening summer breeze. Notice the PVC pipe feeder...many thanks to KatyTheChickenLady for the design idea. I'ma lova lova lovin' it! Girls aren't billing out the feed all over the floor or scratching shavings into it like they did their old conventional feeder. Water is still a problem, but nipple waterers are ordered and on their way
Hope you enjoyed looking at my baby pics. BTW, tonight is their second night in the new coop. I checked on them several times through the evening the first night and they were quite comfortable. Temps in the cool corners were running 60 degrees. Right under the light it was 70-75 degrees. The girls weren't huddled under the light so the cooler temp seems to be tolerable for them even at 5 weeks and not fully feathered. They grow up so fast! Have to change my tag line - they're not fuzzy butts anymore
