DrFyl
Chirping
- Mar 28, 2022
- 54
- 249
- 96
Hello, BYC-lovers.
My chicks (8 Buffs;12 Production Reds) were just over a week old when I decided to capitulate (after years of arguing with myself) and buy them. My real chicken house has always housed Guinea Hens that free range the property, and I didn't want to mix chicks in with them. Also, I can't, in good conscience, let the hens free range as the Guineas do. At least the Guins scream bloody murder and fly up in the trees when they see a coyote and they send up an ear-shattering alarm when a hawk flies over, and they run for cover. My gut feeling tells me that chickens would fall prey much easier than Guineas, and I've heard that Guineas can be awfully mean to chickens. . . . so. . . . I sacrificed my large dog pen and shed for the chicks. I kept them in a 100 gallon galvanized trough with two heat lamps and 3 warped sections of thin plywood as a loose cover for three weeks as we had cold temps and snow off and on. Meanwhile, I spent hours one day last week, unrolling, fitting, cussing at, and zip-tying 3' tall 1"chicken wire all around the base of the 36x36' chainlink pen. My fingers just aren't as nimble as they used to be, and I was bone-sore, bloody & ragged-fingered, grouchy, yet relieved at the end of the day when it was finished.
Snow SHOULD be done, and yesterday was warm, so after cutting wood scraps to fortify the punky wood siding at the base of the shed walls (water damage) and after bringing in a dusty and cobweb-covered 7ft tall rack (for roosts) stashed in a lean-to (my late husband built it for his leather hides when he had a leather business), and sweeping out the shed, and building a gate out of scraps of wood and rabbit wire that were hanging out in the shop/machine shed, I covered the floor with shavings, hung the heat lamps higher and in a corner of the shed near where I placed their food and water, and I scooped the chicks out of the trough and onto the floor of the shed. They sleep under the lamps or close to them, but they have a 12 x12 shed to run and jump around in until I open the gate to the coop. Yesterday and today, they have been in and out, pecking tips off grass, picking up grit, bugs, and who knows what else. Today is supposed to hit mid 70s, but the south wind is blowing to beat the band, and their feathers get all ruffled.
They seem like happy little campers and stay outside the coop until they can't stand the wind or decide they need a nap. While they were housed in the trough, they went through 2 Manna Pro Chick Sticks in 5-6 days! Expensive deal. I saw HENTASTIC logs for $3 less and decided to try one
. The chicks wouldn't touch it, BUT today something switched in their little brains and taste buds and they have been devouring it where it hangs in the shed!
Nest boxes still need to be built and will sit on the framing on the north wall that supports the roosting rack. Also, I may cut a small, chicken-sized door on the south wall of the coop in case I want to leave the large gate to the shed closed and covered with the tarp. While the dog pen is FULL of grass, I can picture a time in the near future when the ground in the pen will be dirt from all the pecking and scratching from busy hens (and, I think, one Buff Rooster).
Some photos from today attached:
My chicks (8 Buffs;12 Production Reds) were just over a week old when I decided to capitulate (after years of arguing with myself) and buy them. My real chicken house has always housed Guinea Hens that free range the property, and I didn't want to mix chicks in with them. Also, I can't, in good conscience, let the hens free range as the Guineas do. At least the Guins scream bloody murder and fly up in the trees when they see a coyote and they send up an ear-shattering alarm when a hawk flies over, and they run for cover. My gut feeling tells me that chickens would fall prey much easier than Guineas, and I've heard that Guineas can be awfully mean to chickens. . . . so. . . . I sacrificed my large dog pen and shed for the chicks. I kept them in a 100 gallon galvanized trough with two heat lamps and 3 warped sections of thin plywood as a loose cover for three weeks as we had cold temps and snow off and on. Meanwhile, I spent hours one day last week, unrolling, fitting, cussing at, and zip-tying 3' tall 1"chicken wire all around the base of the 36x36' chainlink pen. My fingers just aren't as nimble as they used to be, and I was bone-sore, bloody & ragged-fingered, grouchy, yet relieved at the end of the day when it was finished.
Snow SHOULD be done, and yesterday was warm, so after cutting wood scraps to fortify the punky wood siding at the base of the shed walls (water damage) and after bringing in a dusty and cobweb-covered 7ft tall rack (for roosts) stashed in a lean-to (my late husband built it for his leather hides when he had a leather business), and sweeping out the shed, and building a gate out of scraps of wood and rabbit wire that were hanging out in the shop/machine shed, I covered the floor with shavings, hung the heat lamps higher and in a corner of the shed near where I placed their food and water, and I scooped the chicks out of the trough and onto the floor of the shed. They sleep under the lamps or close to them, but they have a 12 x12 shed to run and jump around in until I open the gate to the coop. Yesterday and today, they have been in and out, pecking tips off grass, picking up grit, bugs, and who knows what else. Today is supposed to hit mid 70s, but the south wind is blowing to beat the band, and their feathers get all ruffled.
They seem like happy little campers and stay outside the coop until they can't stand the wind or decide they need a nap. While they were housed in the trough, they went through 2 Manna Pro Chick Sticks in 5-6 days! Expensive deal. I saw HENTASTIC logs for $3 less and decided to try one
Nest boxes still need to be built and will sit on the framing on the north wall that supports the roosting rack. Also, I may cut a small, chicken-sized door on the south wall of the coop in case I want to leave the large gate to the shed closed and covered with the tarp. While the dog pen is FULL of grass, I can picture a time in the near future when the ground in the pen will be dirt from all the pecking and scratching from busy hens (and, I think, one Buff Rooster).
Some photos from today attached:
