Help! Need temporary coop/brooder for 6wk olds

[eponagirl]

Our coop was supposed to be finished by now, but as it goes with all construction...never done when you think it will be!

Anyway, next week I will be getting 4 six week old wyandottes and need a place to house them until the coop is done...they will probably need be in there for about 3 more weeks when coop should be ready.

Any ideas about something simple to keep them in?

Would an extra large wire dog crate be enough space? Dimensions are: 48"L x 30"Wx 33"H

 

[Zahboo]

Buy 4 sheets of OSB and make a 4x4 coop

Use scrap wood. It can sit on the ground, pretty much just a box... It won't be hurricane proof, but should work. Or if you have about 2 days, check out my playhouse coop. Its on here somewhere

 

[Judy]

If they will be out of the rain, as in a garage, you can just use a large box, like a stove or refrigerator box, with some bird netting or an old window screen to keep them from flying out.

 

[Judy]

Your wire crate should work, too, for a few weeks. I would cover the wire bottom with wood shavings or something to prevent feet from getting caught and injured. And I would use a ball waterer and small feeder to save space.

 

[mom2chicksandpups]

A dog carrier would work as a great temporary home for the chicks, if you have one or can borrow one.

 

[txchickie]

5 t-posts and 3 rolls of hardware cloth, and a large dog house

4 tposts are your corners, and then one is your door/gate. Wire for the top. It's ugly and kind of redneck, but it's cheap and it works!

We were stuck with that for about 3 weeks until my older chickens accepted the younger ones. Funny thing is, the younger chicks still want to go back into it at night and I have to shoo them away from it until I can get them into the "real" coop! I need to keep the ugly temp pen up because I have another group of babies that will be in it shortly

Then I may leave it up and let my bunny play in it on nice days!

 

[eponagirl]

Maybe I can connect an extra large dog crate to a medium size one for more space? My 6 two week old chicks are using another large dog crate (thank goodness I have 3 dogs to have all these crates around to use!)

I think the chicks can go in the garage, basement or our large livingroom where the other chicks are...by then though I may want all of them in the garage?

How much space do I need to have for them? This is my first time raising chickens, so I don't know how big they'll be at 6 wks...

 

[NancyDz]

I use a hard plastic baby pool with cardboard around the inside to make it taller and netting over the top. You can also use wire to make it taller , I've seen that done too.


nancy

 

[goldnchocolate]

I used plastic baby gates. I quickly zip-tied them together and zip-tied some plastic fencing I had hanging around over the top of it. I used that for several weeks--they had grown too big for the kitchen brooder but were still too little to go in with the 'big kids'. I set it up next to the regular coop so that they all could get used to each other. My coop is in the garage.