Horse stall convert help

[ParelliChick]

I have Jersey Giants and just got a Silkie chick. Everything I've read is it's not a good idea to mix the two. I am planning to change a horse stall into a house for Angel (my Silkie) and use a baby gate and netting for a yard. The stall is about 12 x 12 and made of wood and brick. There is a gap big enough for her to get out under the wall between the stalls. The floor is concrete under rubber matting and shavings, there is a mesh grate on the window and door window and a secure lock on the door. I have a large waterer and feeder. Angel also doesn't eat that much, due to her size. How can I make the stall better?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Well heres what I'd do
Fix up the horse stall - Remove old netting, put in new. Clean windows, or replace with netting (not sure where you live, in winter it might be cold), and I would lay down a few inches of dirt and plant grass seeds (they're really cheap) and once the grass is grown, move Angel back into the horse stall (so she didn't kill the grass) and then let her scratch in the grass. I would also get her a friend- A single chicken, is a lonely chicken. Any bantam will work (assuming shes a bantam) for a friend, just make sure they're similar in size. I would basically convert the horse stall into a mini section of the yard - Add dirt, grass, a roost (she will need one), grow mealworms and let them live in the dirt, put earth worms in the dirt, but that might seem a big extravegant.

At the least I'd do -->
Add dirt or some other soft bedding other then shavings (dirt, sand, )
Add a roost (she won't want to just sleep on the ground)
And get her a friend!

 

[ParelliChick]

Thanks CBL. My parent's think we should just put her in like our now scaredy-cat Americana rooster, Simba. So right now she's in a crate in our chicken coop, just for the night, so she doesn't freeze to death. I just put her in a nesting box with our shy JG (Jersey Giant) hen Andromeda and she looked at Angel and put her wing around her. After that, I took her to my big JG rooster Zeus (as he is the father of most of our JG's) and he ran away from her! He was afraid! Funniest thing I've ever seen. Then my TURKEY Barney (as in Barney Fife) ran away from Angel too! This little one is 3 months old and about 5 inches tall! Verses the foot tall rooster and the three foot turkey. Then I put Angel on the roost next to one of my JG roosters Ares, her pecked her on the head. She started screeching so I cradled her, bopped Ares on the head and asked Angel 'Did the mean rooster scare you?' and she nuzzled closer as if saying 'Yes.' So now, she is my baby . I'll keep your thoughts in mind in case the setting we have doesn't work out (ie: She gets pecked to the point of bleeding.) so she'll have a good place to go. I might be able to get my second cousin to pitch in a Cochin for her buddy, as he raises them.

 

[Lupa Duende]

be careful with introductions
i have had weeks of antibiotic application after my chicken mafia thrashed new autralorps, a guinea fowl, and a turkey.
my girls are sweet with me and the children but them roam the paths looking to beat up (this included a fractured skull) newcomers of any species.

 

[ParelliChick]

Wow Lupa. My chickens won't be that mean, it's the Guinea's I need to look out for. Angel is in a cage in the chicken yard and will be for a week or two until the chickens get used to her, then she's going on the roost at night. My mother and I want to seperate the chickens and guineas, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.