Help! Temporary housing for my 4 week old babies!

[tammyrolloff]

Hi,
I am new to the group. We have 11 hens, they are 4 weeks now and I can't believe how attached to these girls I am! We are almost done with their 'Hilton coop', but in the meantime, what are some options to keep them safe but yet have some room? We have them in a plastic pool with fencing around it right now in our garage and they feel safe there, but it's just getting too small. I have been bringing them outside in a make shift chicken wire fence so they have some room to run around, but last night they started climbing or flying out whenever they saw me so I let them go and they followed me to their pool where they do not try to get out. Any suggestions? Especially to get them out of the pool, I can't imagine them just having free range in my garage! What a mess! Aren't they too young to go in the coop?
Thank you!
Tammy

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Ohgrr]

I used an old dog house with a dog crate bungied to it. It was still small but got them outside until my coop was done. You could probably do something similar with fencing to increase the run size. Oh and welcome!

 

[tammyrolloff]

Thank you! We have an old outdoor chain link kennel the previous owners left here I could use. What would you put on the bottom? Newspaper?

 

[Ohgrr]

I would opt for wood shavings. News paper doesn't absorb well.

 

[liz9910]

Welcome to BYC! I also use an old dog enclosure with a cement pad covered with shavings.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you joined us!

 

[CedarAcres]

Hello Tammy! Welcome to BYC!

I think your best bet would be using some sort of dog kennel until you can get your coop finished. I'd definitely use wood shavings rather than newspaper as well. Good luck to you!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, tammyrolloff, and

! Pleased you joined our flock! Best wishes and have fun!

 

[drumstick diva]

You would do well to run 1/2 inch Hardware cloth around the inside perimeter of the fence from ground to about 18"- 24" inches high, to keep the chicks inside the chain link and to keep predators like rotten raccoons from reaching in and eating off any body part they can snag. Make sure to go around the gate also where there is usually open space between frame and fence posts.