Would this work for 3 chicks until full grown?

[Tracyree]

So I've been brain storming like crazy trying to come up with a simple solution for my 3 chicks that are almost ready to come out of the brooder but way too small to go with the big girls.

Currently I have them in this, but what about sectioning off part of the run as their outdoor enclosure and covering the wire of this mini tractor with wood as their sleeping quarters? It is small, only about 18-19 inches tall at the peak and a total of 43 inches long no including the handles. I could leave the end wire for ventilation, take out the interior wall that currently divdes the pen from the interior and cover the sides with wood. The run is as predator proof as it gets, so the little sleeping coop doesn't need to be.

I could put a floor on it, some legs to get them off the ground?

They'd have a large run, about 5'x5

So would modifying the little tractor work for a tempory coop until they are grown?

 

[Frost Homestead]

Sounds like a pretty decent idea as long as you dont mind modifying the tractor. I think it would be fine for them until they get big enough to join the others. After all, it's just for sleeping and they'll have the divided run

 

[OkChickens]

That looks a little small for 3 hens. It would be fine if the weather isn't bad! They look like healthy chickens!

Nate

 

[Cosmopolis Chick]

Quote:
What I did (boy, that sounds bossy!) is throw together a makeshift creep in one corner of the run.
I used both side panels of an old metal baby crib (NOT an antique, just old junk).
With baling wire I secured one panel tight in the corner on the ground, then the other panel right on top.
That leaves a triangular hole on top but my old girls all have clipped wings.

I put the chick starter food inside - and cursed myself for 4 weeks until the adolescents could mix with the
old girls 'cause it was a pain in the a$$ to fill the chick feeder through the side with a piece of PVC pipe
and a funnel (hangs my head in shame

). But - hey! it worked!

As long as the chicks could slip through the baby crib bars they could escape the old ladies AND eat
in peace. Kept the layers out of the chick starter food too. When I saw it was tough for them to get through
the bars I decided they were ready to join the flock and unwired one side of the lower panel and put the chick
food away. The old girls had a great time checking out the old nursery!

The first two days they were out with The Real Chickens they hesitated to go into the coop at
night (they were used to sleeping under a light in my bathtub)

.
I shoo'ed 'em in the first night with a leafy branch I keep handy for Chicken Attitude Adjustment

,
calling "choooshhh!". The second night near dark I just called "choooshhh, choooshh" and they went right in.

It's far from ideal, and like I said a royal pain to fill a chick feeder without an access door - but it served well.