Growing Chicks

Mike and I are pretty proud of his new chick coop.  Our seven little girls have thrived in it.  They stay dry and warm even when it is cold or wet outside.  Their food and water are slightly elevated so the chicks do not knock it over or get it too dirty.  The windows allow plenty of fresh air at the same time that the wire and window covers keep predators away.  However, just as we started resting on our laurels, we realized all was not well.  It was getting crowded in the coop.  The girls were getting bigger and there was not enough room.  

So it was time to let them have some outdoor time.  First Mike had to add a latch to the coop outside door that opens into a ramp.  Once that was done but before opening the door, we needed to baby proof their run.  That involved putting wire behind the coop to prevent any little ones from getting stuck back there.  If they had managed to get back there we would have spent the better part of the day using a yardstick to try to push them back out.  Then we put some more wire between the large chicken runs and the baby runs just to make sure no hens could stick their heads through the wire and peck the little ones.  Then we were ready for our test run.  

The little chicks did not hesitate to check out their expanded environment.  Apparently, they were not worried about the unknowns beyond their coop door.  

We were also pleased to note that not only could the hens not stick their heads through the wire to peck the little ones, they did not even try.  Neither group had much of an interest in the other even though this was the first time they had met.  

The bad news was that it had not been more than thirty minutes or so of exploring for the little guys than they started to fly.  As a result, Mike had to grab some more chicken wire and put a chicken wire roof covering over the pen.  This also had the advantage of preventing predators from coming in thru the open top.  

Since then we have been letting the chickens out every morning.  In fact, they like it so much that Mike has a hard time getting them to come in to their safe coop at night.  Long after the hens have gone to roost for the night, the chicks are running around chasing moths.  I hope their natural instincts to roost at night kick in soon because they are getting harder to catch.  

So Mike and I are again patting ourselves on the back for having such a perfect place for baby chicks.  Of course, there are a few more hurdles to come.  They are going to need a bigger run to play in soon and they are going to have to learn to play well with their current neighbors, the hens.  But we will leave those problems to another day.