Mother hens and baby chicks

[Silikiemamma23]

Hello my husbands co worker is giving me a couple hens who are laying eggs. This will be my first set of baby chicks in the flock. I guess my questions is. What can I use as a diy chicken border for the mommy and babies. As I only have a couple of days to put some together.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are they laying or are they brooding? Chickens lay eggs with or without roosters and mothering hormones. Just because a bird lays eggs doesn't mean she'll decide to hatch them out

 

[Silikiemamma23]

Are they laying or are they brooding? Chickens lay eggs with or without roosters and mothering hormones. Just because a bird lays eggs doesn't mean she'll decide to hatch them out

They are brooding

 

[NatJ]

What can I use as a diy chicken border for the mommy and babies. As I only have a couple of days to put some together.

Most pens that are suitable for adult chickens are also suitable for hens raising chicks.

They need shade from the sun, and protection from rain, snow, and heavy wind. (Light wind is fine.)

The pen needs to keep the chicks in, and predators out.

They need enough space, maybe something like 4 square feet for the hen, plus 1 or 2 square feet per chick. Bigger is better.

They need food (chick starter) and water. The hen can eat chick starter, just like the chicks do.

Some kind of bedding is a good idea, of any kind that works for other chickens.

You do not need to provide any heat, because the hen will do that. (Exception: if the weather is so cold that water freezes, either bring fresh water frequently, or provide just enough heat to keep the water melted.)

Hardware cloth with 1/2" holes is good for keeping chicks in and predators out.

You could start with an old table, or a wire dog crate, or a big dog kennel, or puppy playpen or baby playpen, or a rabbit hutch, or many other things as a frame. Add hardware cloth to make it secure. Weather protection can be tarp, wood, metal roofing, an old shower curtain, plastic feed bags, etc. I've even used cardboard to block wind & rain, and it lasted enough weeks to raise one set of chicks. (Cardboard will not keep out predators, so I layered it over hardware cloth.)

 

[Silikiemamma23]

Okay thanks