Inexpensive but quality small coop and run?

[Stephine]

Hi! I got 2 10 week old chicks that I am slowly trying to integrate into the flock and I think it would help uf I got a small coop just for the two of them for a little while.
Is there a quality coop out there that is also affordable and predator proof? We have all kinds of predators around and it needs to be safe (the big girls live in Fort Knox). Thank you!!!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Have you considered getting a HUGE wire crate? Put the 2 10wk olds in it with their own food & water but IN "Fort Knox"....That way they are safe & the flock can get used to them being with them. Just a thought.

 

[Pork Pie]

Have you considered getting a HUGE wire crate? Put the 2 10wk olds in it with their own food & water but IN "Fort Knox"....That way they are safe & the flock can get used to them being with them. Just a thought.

Good suggestion, IMO. Maybe if you could put a crate inside the main coop on a night time you needn't be worried about predators, plus it will also help with integration. Putting the crate outdoors, in a "busy" area, e.g. 3-4m from a feeding station during the day would also help integration.

Here's some links that may be useful, if you have not read them:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1126547/topic-of-the-week-integrating-chicks-into-an-adult-flock

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1069595/introducing-chicks-to-adults#post_16276224

 

[sylviethecochin]

Something we've done is taken a big empty mineral tub (about fifty gallons, the bottom half of a barrel would work) sawed holes in it large enough for the chicks, but too small for our goats, dropped a cinder block on top of it and a few around it, so that nothing could move the barrel, and allowed the chickens to intermingle as they willed. That solved the feed problem, and I imagine it would solve the bullying problem.

The wire cage sounds like a good idea, except that we have a few hens who would really enjoy the chance to reach in and snatch a few feathers.

 

[Stephine]

Thank you for your input!
Right now I have the little ones in a half xpen (2x4') in one corner of the coop. I blocked off one 2' stretch at the corner end with cardboard so that they have half their space where no hen can stick her head in and bother them. That is also where I put their feed, grit and water. Everyone is doing fine with this arrangement.
But now it's getting hot and the coop will be too warm to keep them comfortable. Also, I really want the chicks to have time outside.
I just this morning rigged up another halfed xpen in one shady corner of the run for them where I will put them later when it warms up. I am just not comfortable with them freeranging yet, but would like for them to be on the meadow sometime, where they can hunt for bugs and scratch around. I could set up yet another xpen, full size and cover it with chicken wire, I guess. Would have to be supervised, but my big girls are only out when someone and the dog are there to watch, too, so I guess that could be ok.
I just thought if I had a small coop/run set up for them they could be out more and I wouldn't have to catch and move them around so much...
But I think you are all right, I just need to focus on integrating them. I have the jitters! These two little ones are my favorites, now (of course! always the babies...), a gorgeous SFH millefleur pullet and a blue-brown-white crested SFH cockerel, who I got to replace my two failed original roosters.
They have been in their little pen in the coop for three weeks now. Next step would be to rig their pen so only they can enter, but how do I find out the right size opening? Loch everone out of the coop, open the pen, adjust to what I think is the right size and throw treats in there to see if they will fit? Should I shoo them to practice running to safety into their pen? Also, the way the pen is set up in the coop now, it forms a dead end in one spot. I will have to block off a couple of nest boxes to eliminate that - but that would leave me with just two for 12 hens...? Though, they only use two right now, the ones at the far ends -
one of which would be blocked...

 

[Stephine]

I am contemplating the panic openings for the chicks - how do I figure out a good size? Or if I lift the whole pen to allow for easier access when the chicks want to escape: how do I know the right height?