Play Pens

[gabrielle1976]

Do any of you do play pins for your chicks once they get a little older. The tubs my chicks are in are easy to keep warm and more importantly keep the cat out but they arnt that big so I had the bright idea of takeing like 3 or 4 of the large boxes that the eggs came in to make a play pen for them to play in during the day. When we are around and the cat is scarce =P . Does anyone else do this.?

 

[gabrielle1976]

My son so wanted to get into the play pen too.
I find it rather amuseing that the boxes protected eggs and now protect chicks

They really liked all the shaveings they scratched and scratched and dug.
I think the quail might think they are chickens

bug has the wierdest facial markings I have ever seen on a chick he is below the chick with the yellow face on the left .
The little chick in the top of the pic is a serama but look at those feathers lol they try to stick out all over its so cute.

 

[gabrielle1976]

I cant seem to keep my son out of the play pen . LOL him and the chicks seem to enjoy playing in it. Doesnt anyone else use play pens for there chicks.?

 

[JanetS]

How cute! Good idea for now but as the chicks get older they will be able to jump or fly out unless you put something over the top : ) How many do you have?

 

[RoseyB]

Our play pen turned out to be the whole dining room. The girls were escaping from everything and we threw in the flag. The ex-pen worked for awhile, but we needed height quickly once they started to test their wings. Your son is so cute with the chicks.

 

[gabrielle1976]

Im not shure anymore how many we have . 6 jumbo brown quail who can already hop/fly out . 4 serama chicks , 2 silkie ? cross chicks , and 5 ee mutts in that bin then we have 10 bobwhite quail and 12 chukar I think in another bucket and 4 new serama 2 d ullces and 1 norwigan jearhon in another bucket. My brother in law was sapose to gett the chukar , bob whites, and ee babies last week but his little chick enterprise got a little more complecated then he thought it would I think so he is trying to catch up with the 70 + chicks and adult birds he has now. So thats why I came up with the play pen there buckets arnt that big so they sleep in them and then I give them a few times each day that they can play in the play pen. I should have taken a picture with my son in there today in his spiderman coustume from 2 halloweens ago LOL it is falling to pieaces and all stretched snug but he still insist on wearing it.

 

[Life is Good!]

Um, yes - it's called the great outdoors.....
Get some garden-type fencing (rabbit-fencing?) that has very tiny spaces between the wires - I've even used a spare roll of hardware cloth for this (25' or better). Get 5 t-posts from same hardware supplier. Stake out the four t-posts in a square and place the 5th close to the 4th - this will be the 'gate'. Use twist ties to hold the hardware cloth to the t-posts. Make sure your bitties have some shade as well as the sunshine and viola - one outdoor playpen. Supervise as best you can. Do not leave them to answer the phone - that's why there's voicemail.

Our 'shade' was a very very large rubbermaid tub (um, 56gal?) that I turned on it's side. Bitties thought it was going to eat them until they figured out why it was there! Then, they ALL had to pile into it! 26 Freedom ranger chicks in a tub was too too cute! I was laughing too hard to get a picture of that - but here's what I mean....

 

[gabrielle1976]

awww how cute. Ill have to see about doing that they shure look like they have fun. I will have to ask the owner if he sprays the grass lord knows he sprays everything else around here. Aprantly people around here think litttle bitties like spiders and such are going to KILL them as he has constant complaints and is always wandering around with a back pack of weed kiler or bug killer .. Im sorry I dont want to be over run with bugs but the occasional spider or ant isnt gonna murder you in your sleep.

 

[Life is Good!]

If the owner is spraying anything, I'd keep them far far away from it! Poisons are poisons in my opinoin - we don't use 'em here and haven't since we bought in 1997. It's not organic because I do bring in mulch from other places (ran out of trees to take out to make our own) - but it's awfully darn close!

That stinks though - that means you don't have access to fresh greens for your girls - mine enjoy everything, clover, dandelion, chickweed, grass......See if you can't find a friendly neighbor who DOESN'T spray who would let you 'harvest' their 'weeds'.