- Sep 18, 2010
- 188
- 2
- 103
Hi all
Owing to several factors including including my impatience and lack of follow-through by a friend to help me obtain chicks, and more importantly a way to process the chicks, I got a shipment of 20 Jumbo X Cornish Cross chicks on October 21 from Murray McMurray. Obviously, the weather is cooler now, (not terrible though, I'm in SC), but still not good for baby chicks to be outside. Because I had all these chicks living in my garage (EEK!) and needed them to be out on pasture where I wanted them, I became desperate in seeking a solution. I bent 8' cattle panels into a half-moon, using two of them, and draped them with 4 mil translucent plastic. I weighted down the edges with boards, and put wire mesh at the ends. Inside the panels it's quite warm during the day (on sunny days) and the chicks are happy. I move them from the garage to the cattle panels when it becomes warm inside, and they stay on "pasture" in my garden eating weeds and bugs until the sun begins to set. They are inside a fenced garden, and I check on them every hour or two. I homeschool my children and so I'm home and can ventilate the structure if necessary, bring them inside if I need to, and watch out for predators. It's not something you can do if you have to leave to go to work all day, but I wanted to share it for people who might be able to do this.
Owing to several factors including including my impatience and lack of follow-through by a friend to help me obtain chicks, and more importantly a way to process the chicks, I got a shipment of 20 Jumbo X Cornish Cross chicks on October 21 from Murray McMurray. Obviously, the weather is cooler now, (not terrible though, I'm in SC), but still not good for baby chicks to be outside. Because I had all these chicks living in my garage (EEK!) and needed them to be out on pasture where I wanted them, I became desperate in seeking a solution. I bent 8' cattle panels into a half-moon, using two of them, and draped them with 4 mil translucent plastic. I weighted down the edges with boards, and put wire mesh at the ends. Inside the panels it's quite warm during the day (on sunny days) and the chicks are happy. I move them from the garage to the cattle panels when it becomes warm inside, and they stay on "pasture" in my garden eating weeds and bugs until the sun begins to set. They are inside a fenced garden, and I check on them every hour or two. I homeschool my children and so I'm home and can ventilate the structure if necessary, bring them inside if I need to, and watch out for predators. It's not something you can do if you have to leave to go to work all day, but I wanted to share it for people who might be able to do this.
