Hey Gritsar, I wanted to post because your idea sounds similar to what we did in our chicken house. We had an existing building on our property that we know housed chickens, pheasants, quail over the many years it's been there. We converted it back for chickens. We constructed a grow out pen. I wanted to add, this was all done with recycled wood. The only thing we bought were a few 2 by 4's. Here's a picture or two......
Our first guinea pigs...I mean Chickens
It works well. They stay in that for a few weeks. The big chickens can see them, the little chickens can see the big chickens. The little chickens learn this is home.
There was a dilemma however! Now we got our free ranging idea actually from you. Our property is actually set up well for free ranging so after weighing the pros and cons we said free ranging it is! The problem we encountered was this...After adding a couple of welsummers, the poor things were tormented by the big chickens when it came time to free range with the rest of flock. I thought about it for a couple weeks and came up with an idea over the summer.
I used an old 4 by 8 raised bed, and bought some PVC pipe. I made hoops over the raised bed, and then added some netting over the top. On our next introduction of chickens, during the day I would take the new chickens from the grow out pen inside to the grow out pen outside. The big chickens could still give the little chickens the stink eye, but not scare the living daylights out of them. Before dark, I would transfer the little guys back in there grow pen for the night. We did this for about two more weeks. It worked wonderfully. Not only did the new guys learn where home was, but they learned to go back in at night without being harrassed.
As for the froo froo chickens.... My daughter bought two silkies over the summer. They are partridge colored. I was hestitant on the idea, but it was her money, and her chickens. I'm actually glad she got them. Not only do they free range well, they blend in well with their surroundings. They are hardy little things. Our big chickens were actually nice to them, and left them alone for the most part. I guess they were more curious they made strange noises and looked different. The girl is about ready to lay, but I think she has been teetering with the idea of trying to hatch a golf ball, or lay an egg. They are a riot to have around. So get a couple of froo froo chickens. LOL
Bluemoon
