mini coop for baby silkies

[growinupinfl]

We are hatching 3-5 silkie chicks on christmas day, for my young sister. We are planning on building a doll house looking mini coop for about five chicks then,later on, two silkie chickens grown. If you have any ideas or suggestions I would love to know.

 

[azygous]

That sounds a lot like the two-bedroom condo I fashioned this summer out of two cardboard appliance boxes. I cut a pass-through and joined the two boxes together. The access doors were on the side with the hinge on the bottom. On the opposite side, I cut big windows into the boxes and covered them with heavy see-through plastic.

The top was left open to suspend a heat lamp overhead. Also I cut slots into the sides very close to the top and slipped a stick through them, then suspended the waterer from it so it was up off the floor. This way no wood shavings got kicked into it and it stayed very clean. I could also raise it each week as the chicks grew. To get the bottle to hang, I put it inside an orange net bag and secured it around the neck.

The base was free to screw into the bottle. I'd like to post more pics but it's not easy with old pics I've previously posted here, for some reason.

This was the best brooder I ever had! The chicks were tame from the very start since no big scary, bodiless hand was coming at them from above. These chicks are now almost fully grown and they're the tamest chickens I've ever raised, very easy to approach and pick up. You are definitely on the right track with this "doll house" idea!

 

[spook]

azygous I absolutely love your idea of the onion bag to support the water bottle. Amazing, no shavings in the thing! How exciting, you idea has been stolen! Thank you!

 

[growinupinfl]

Exactly how did the onion bag thing work? Did you cut holes around the bottom for them to get to the water? I'm really trying to wrap my mind around how you did it, because I TOO want to steal your idea. That really is awesome..

Christal

 

[azygous]

Yeah, I admit it's a pretty nifty concept! Works perfectly, too.

I used a small net bag, mine came with those tiny mandarin oranges in it. Onions also come in them. But an old sock would work, too.

With the water bottle sitting upright on it's screw-in water base, slip the bag (or sock) over the bottle part. Tie a sturdy string as tightly as you can around the neck just above the screw-on threads. Take an "s" hook and slip it through the bag (or sock) at the top. The base is completely free to screw back onto the bottle after you fill it.

I screwed an eye screw into the stick I slipped through the slots I cut into the top of the brooder. I used carabiners to lower the bottle close to the floor of the brooder for the first week, and since the chicks grow so fast, I removed carabiners as the bottle needed to be raised to keep frisky feet from kicking shavings into it. The water tray needs to be about neck high to the chicks current size.

I forgot to add : there may be some excess material hanging below the string and into the water tray. Making certain the string is as tight as you can get it - test to see that it will hold a full bottle of water before you hang it in the brooder - you can trim the excess off with scissors. A flat cotton shoe lace works well for the tie since you can really get it tight.

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

Wonderful wonderful idea with the suspended waterer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......... and im stealing it as well! thank you so so much

 

[growinupinfl]

Pretty nifty you get bonus points for creativity! That is really cool.. so guess what I'm about to go outside and do...

Thanks a lot

Christal

 

[Madcap621]

Quote:
There are LOTS of plans in the 'C00p Designs section

Here are three of my personal favorites:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=20375-cottage-coop

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=49209

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=37990