Our newest flock of peeps is growing absurdly fast, almost certainly faster than did our first flock. Also, I have jury duty in five weeks. Having done a fair amount of reading and thinking, I would prefer to integrate the newbies earlier rather than later. We also do not have extra coops/barns/giant coops the way many do, so are going to have to work with what we have.
Settle in, this could be long, but I'll dole out cute chicken pictures, too.
That is how things stand at the moment, but as I said, I think things will need to hustle along here. I can see the Peeps outgrowing the brooder really fast. I've had difficulty getting out for long periods of time this week due to the flu but not much can be done about that.
So far my game plan is "keep a very close eye on things" and begin by pulling the bales away just enough that the peeps can dash in and out as they like but the adult birds cannot. There are three bales, so I figure by including pulling them away from the walls a few inches that's four 'escape ports'. We're going to find a spot to add roosts for the peeps...somewhere (don't want them getting pooped on all night by the bigger birds).
But that's just in the coop itself.
The auto pop door is well above the ground...1.5-2 feet. There's a ramp, of course, but that's still a mighty drop for little peeps. So I am not sure how to handle that at all—or should I just give them supervised "out of brooder, in the coop" times while still allowing the Big Girls to come in and lay?
I'm also concerned about their safety in the run. I apologize for not having photos of it, but it includes, in addition to a big dust bath, a pallet teepee, an upside-down chair and upside-down flowerpot, a few tall stumps from clearing the area, some fallen tree limbs we put in for the flock to sit on, a roost above the teepee, and of course a treadle feeder and waterer (will soon be two feeders for the grown birds). We were going to add a pallet for the peeps to dash into and a few spots like that. I believe @aart also had a special "catch the peeps at night" pen idea that might prove useful which we are considering how to implement.
Still, I'm just... concerned. I'm sure you all know how easy it is to become attached to the little creatures. We lost one already because of shipping stress (even Nutri-Drench didn't help, I was so sad), and I know chicks die and get hurt all the time, but would like to be as wise as possible.
About how soon can I expect the babies to start trying to head out that pop door? Is it best to maybe let them begin their first expedition one afternoon after the Big Girls have mostly headed out to free range for the day, and just close the run off for a little bit? Truthfully, I do not relish the idea of chasing a bunch of peeps around our huge run to let the rest of the flock back in, and I do not give the babies any treats at all, so really have no way to 'lure' them. Some are quite friendly but the Welsummers in particular are extremely skittish. :/ (I have spent a lot of time visiting and cuddling and hanging out with them, but they still don't trust me.)
Would it be best to keep both flocks locked up in the run for a week or so while making sure they all get along before letting them out to free range, or should ranging be restricted to the grown birds? Obviously that would be a little difficult to swing, but I could probably figure something out. Again, the chicks are just 4.5 weeks. We are on 15 mostly wooded acres. I'm not sure if the peeps will stick close to the coop/run or try to follow the larger birds around.
Frankly, I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this and don't quite know how to go about some of it despite all my reading of others' experiences. I suppose I could put the peeps into the second run on their own, but that also necessitates carrying them in and out of there every day, since the pop door ramp now opens to the newer run. Also chasing at night for the same reason!
This post has taken forever to even write because I look at things and am having difficulty seeing how to handle some of my concerns. Trying to figure it out and remember all I've read while having the flu probably does not help either! I'm almost regretting the new babies, darling as they are and as much as we really did need new hens, lest I fail them. :/
I'd appreciate any help you all can offer, and will try to stumble back out for run photos later. Thanks!
Settle in, this could be long, but I'll dole out cute chicken pictures, too.
- ATM our coop is 8x16, and the flock inhabits 8x10 of it; the current run (we do have two of those, which we can rotate or open both entirely as during the bird flu concern) is about 32x16.
- The Peeps have been brooding in the coop since the day we brought them home. They have been able to see each other all this time, though for the most part, the Big Girls seem rather bored even though they do check in from time to time. Last weekend, we expanded the chicks' 3x4 brooder (which is on the people side of the coop, beneath the nest boxes) by two strawbales long and one strawbale wide. We landscape-forked chicken wire over the top to keep the Peeps safe from the Big Girls and our (genuinely wonderful) rooster, but they can definitely all stare at one another. Obviously this is not face-to-face or sharing a run, but it is what we are able to do and so far it has worked well. There's a framed little portal between the original brooder and the expansion.
- There are nine peeps and eleven Big Girls plus the roo. (Big Girls: EEs, BA's, Dominiques + Black Copper Marans roo; Peeps are Dominique, Welsummer, and Buckeye)
- The chicks are officially off the heat plate as of today.
- The Big Girls & roo free range most of the afternoon, and I have questions about that too.
That is how things stand at the moment, but as I said, I think things will need to hustle along here. I can see the Peeps outgrowing the brooder really fast. I've had difficulty getting out for long periods of time this week due to the flu but not much can be done about that.
So far my game plan is "keep a very close eye on things" and begin by pulling the bales away just enough that the peeps can dash in and out as they like but the adult birds cannot. There are three bales, so I figure by including pulling them away from the walls a few inches that's four 'escape ports'. We're going to find a spot to add roosts for the peeps...somewhere (don't want them getting pooped on all night by the bigger birds).
But that's just in the coop itself.
The auto pop door is well above the ground...1.5-2 feet. There's a ramp, of course, but that's still a mighty drop for little peeps. So I am not sure how to handle that at all—or should I just give them supervised "out of brooder, in the coop" times while still allowing the Big Girls to come in and lay?
I'm also concerned about their safety in the run. I apologize for not having photos of it, but it includes, in addition to a big dust bath, a pallet teepee, an upside-down chair and upside-down flowerpot, a few tall stumps from clearing the area, some fallen tree limbs we put in for the flock to sit on, a roost above the teepee, and of course a treadle feeder and waterer (will soon be two feeders for the grown birds). We were going to add a pallet for the peeps to dash into and a few spots like that. I believe @aart also had a special "catch the peeps at night" pen idea that might prove useful which we are considering how to implement.
Still, I'm just... concerned. I'm sure you all know how easy it is to become attached to the little creatures. We lost one already because of shipping stress (even Nutri-Drench didn't help, I was so sad), and I know chicks die and get hurt all the time, but would like to be as wise as possible.
About how soon can I expect the babies to start trying to head out that pop door? Is it best to maybe let them begin their first expedition one afternoon after the Big Girls have mostly headed out to free range for the day, and just close the run off for a little bit? Truthfully, I do not relish the idea of chasing a bunch of peeps around our huge run to let the rest of the flock back in, and I do not give the babies any treats at all, so really have no way to 'lure' them. Some are quite friendly but the Welsummers in particular are extremely skittish. :/ (I have spent a lot of time visiting and cuddling and hanging out with them, but they still don't trust me.)
Would it be best to keep both flocks locked up in the run for a week or so while making sure they all get along before letting them out to free range, or should ranging be restricted to the grown birds? Obviously that would be a little difficult to swing, but I could probably figure something out. Again, the chicks are just 4.5 weeks. We are on 15 mostly wooded acres. I'm not sure if the peeps will stick close to the coop/run or try to follow the larger birds around.
Frankly, I am feeling a little overwhelmed by all of this and don't quite know how to go about some of it despite all my reading of others' experiences. I suppose I could put the peeps into the second run on their own, but that also necessitates carrying them in and out of there every day, since the pop door ramp now opens to the newer run. Also chasing at night for the same reason!
This post has taken forever to even write because I look at things and am having difficulty seeing how to handle some of my concerns. Trying to figure it out and remember all I've read while having the flu probably does not help either! I'm almost regretting the new babies, darling as they are and as much as we really did need new hens, lest I fail them. :/
I'd appreciate any help you all can offer, and will try to stumble back out for run photos later. Thanks!
Also, I have read that post of yours several times over. It is very helpful and worthy of all the attention it gets! Thank you! We only have the one pop door at this time, and it would take some Doc Brown level engineering to get it to work for both runs but only let the chicks into "their" run.
