Need Brainstorming Help on Nursery Seperation Coop

[Jynuine]

Hey everyone!
My Buff has hatched 1 of her 3 eggs (we aren't sure what the breed is yet but think it might be a Sumatran Bantam mix with one of our bantams or our Leghorn) and at the moment she is in our brooder which is more-or-less like a rabbit hutch.
As soon as the rest of her eggs hatch, we want to move them into the chicken run which is attached to our coop but isn't the only entrance/exit since the ramp up to the coop is too tough for little chicks to get up as are the stairs.

I need to make a small coop for her and them because the raccoons will literally reach their hands through the coop chicken wire at night and pull large chicks through (not sure HOW but they have done it).

Does anyone have a small brooder for a hen and a couple chicks they have already built to share?

It needs to be weather proof since I live in Oregon. As fall comes we will be getting a lot of rain, but I just basicly need something small for them to sleep in at night.

 

[Emma Miriam]

Hi! So first off, when you mentioned chicken wire, was that for your main coop? If so, I know this wasn't your question, but I would HIGHLY recommend switching from chicken wire to 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Predators can rip through chicken wire, and as you mentioned, raccoons can reach through and do some pretty nasty things...so if there's any way you can change it, it would be a super good idea. Chicken wire should really only be used to keep chickens in, not predators out.

I haven't built anything like you're talking about yet, but I'm currently working on plans for a little quarantine/hospital coop. If you'd like me to share that, be sure to remind me! I can find the plans tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'd love to see others' designs!

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is in the Learning Center at the top of this page. About as basic as you can get. You can raise it off the ground a bit to keep the bottom dry, but I’d raise it enough the chickens can get under it so mice don’t set up residence under this. Personally I’d make the lid bigger to put ventilation under the overhang and keep rain out plus slope it so rain runs off.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/basic-backyard-coop-keep-it-simple

I’m not sure how big your coop and run are but I get the feeling not very large and you have one of those small elevated coops. You’d be surprised at how well a broody can get her chicks to move around and use ramps and steps but, yes, some are more challenging than others, especially the first few days after hatch. Besides a separate small coop often comes in handy to separate or isolate a chicken. It’s good to have something like that ready.

My broodies normally hatch with the flock and bring their chicks off the nest when they are ready. They normally keep the chicks in the coop for two or three days, then take them outside using steps made from pavers. It’s a fairly big coop, 8’ x 12’ so she has room. I also have a small coop in the run where I sometimes move a broody and her chicks, mainly when the coop itself is pretty crowded. If you lock the hen and chicks in there for a couple of days, she takes them back there to sleep at night instead of into the main coop when you do let them out.

By two weeks of age those chicks should have no problem at all using a ramp, steps, or just flying up to your main coop entrance. If you wish you could move Mama and the chicks in there after they have gone to sleep. Mine normally switch to taking the chicks to bed in the main coop after doing that just once, though you might have to do it a couple of times.

I don’t know when your wet weather starts. Most of my broody hens wean their chicks somewhere between 4 to 9 weeks of age, abandon them to make their own way with the flock. Mama might or might not move the chicks into the main coop before she weans them. I’ve had it both ways. If they are still sleeping in the small coop when she weans them, they are likely to remain in the small coop but again I’ve had some move into the big coop on their own. You just don’t know for sure what will happen. You can influence that by moving them into the big coop whenever you wish or just be flexible and go with the flow. They normally work things out pretty well themselves.

Good luck on the rest of the hatch and welcome to the adventure of broody hens.

 

[FarmerMac]

Does anyone have a small brooder for a hen and a couple chicks they have already built to share?

It needs to be weather proof since I live in Oregon. As fall comes we will be getting a lot of rain, but I just basicly need something small for them to sleep in at night.

Hello Jynuine
When I first built my coop, I did not think about separate sections for broody hens and their chicks. The first time, I had them in a cage inside the coop (a dog carrier until they got older) . Later on I added separate sections to the big coop. If you have room in the coop, you can use a cage.

Now I have two small coop sections, about 6x4, where the hen and babies can stay safe. I have another section on top of the two small coops where we keep teenage chicks at night. I have 1/2 inch hardware cloth wire all around and as wall partition between the coops so they can see each other. Here are some pics of them.



Here are the three sections, two 6x4 bottom, one 6x8 on top



The section are on the left side of the coop


Here is one of my hens in one of the lower sections.