Moved the babies outside and no more losses? (ADDED PICTURES!)

[KYChixMama]

This is my grow coop. Working well, but I have some ideas for a bigger and better one for the next build.

 

[Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil]

That looks great. What is the big bucket for?
Do you cover the run at night or are they fine without? We still get pretty chilly at night and our meaties are still working on feathering out. Maybe its taking longer because its to warm in there. They are over 2 weeks.
I would have 12 meaties right now but one of the dogs ate the first 5. Got some more and lost 2 and have one in isolation. He looks like the other two did before they dies. I think your right about the heat. We have our container divided with meats on one side and hen chicks on the other. The heat lamp in the middle over them. But after reading this I'm going to move the light more over to the lil' chicks side. I also need to get a move on and get the meaties outside run made.
Make sure you post pictures of your larger run, I'd love to see how it turns out.

 

[Dogfish]

Bucket is for water, most likely.

Great looking little tractor. 4'x4'? If so, you are going to run out of room pretty soon. With 20+ birds in there, you might want to start on a second one.

 

[KYChixMama]

Cheep a'lil Talk a'lil :

What is the big bucket for?
Do you cover the run at night or are they fine without?

The bucket has chicken nipples in the bottom of it. It's perfect for the meaties due to their heavy water consumption. Clean, abundant water is available at all times. I don't cover the run at all. I was a little concerned about cold evening temps, but it's not been an issue.

Quote:
Thank you! It is 4'X4' - I had planned on it being 8'X8', but weight and mobility were an issue, so I decided 2 4'X4's would be better. I'm going to do some alterations to this one and build my other one this week. I want to alter the roofing section into a hinged lid so the entire top can open, and extend the roofing to cover the remaining open top as well. I also want to add a partial interior wall to help give them cover from the wind. Our farm sits on a hill, and there is a constant wind that I have to contend with. I'm also going to add 2 PVC feeders - one to each side - to make feeding them a little easier and more sanitary. And paint it. But all in all, I'm pretty happy.

Oh - and I'm going to add wheels to one side to make moving by myself a little easier. I'm thinking a board on one end, with 2 wheels on it, hinged so I can lift up the run, flip the board under wheel-side-down, move the tractor, then flip the board back out. That way there's no gap or raised edge that a predator could squeeze under.​

 

[chickenchick2011]

O my those are some cute little ones lol. I am thinking about getting me some. Did you hatch yours or are they bought from the store?

 

[KYChixMama]

Quote:
Store bought.