moving chicks to hen house Archives - View from the Front Porch

28 08, 2015

“Eat and Grow” – Chick Watching

By judythemorgan|2015-08-22T11:34:10-05:00August 28th, 2015|Guest blogger, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

By Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

The chicks have gotten too big for the long cage. This is good. It means they are growing.

This is bad. It means we have to move them.

Rachel and I decided to move the larger ones first. I chose 14 hens and gave them to Rachel who clipped their wings. Then we put them in the bantam coop. There was lots of noise initially but eventually they calmed down.

The chicks remaining in the long cage on saw horses still seemed to be picking on each other. This was not good.

We decided to move the long cage to the ground in the bantam yard. Then we open it during the day and let the chicks run around. At night, we put them back in the long cage and close the doors so they are safe.

Watching 32 chicks run around on the ground for the first time in their short lives is hysterical. They tend to stay in groups. One will run across the yard and others will follow.

Bella finds their activity particularly entertaining.

She spends long periods of time just watching them. Fortunately, none have come over the fence to “play.” The bantam yard keeps them entertained for now.

The next step will be moving them over with the large hens. They need to be a little bit bigger. I tell them every day “Eat and grow, eat and grow.”

7 08, 2015

Chick Update

By judythemorgan|2015-07-25T08:00:41-05:00August 7th, 2015|Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

By Guest Blogger Chicken Wrangler Sara

While Beekeeper Brian and I were in Colorado, Rachel was on chicken/dog duty. She did an outstanding job especially considering the 32 chicks quickly outgrew the brooder. That meant Rachel had to move them out to the chicken yard. This is no easy process and usually involves two people Rachel grabbed one of the girls next door to come help. They are all experienced chicken handlers.

Since they were too small to go directly into the bantam yard, she put them in the long cage that originally had quail in it. She started with it on the ground but discovered what appeared to be bug bites on some of the chicks the first morning. She blamed the infamous Texas fire ant.

She moved the cage up onto sawhorses. When we got home the chicks looked great and had adjusted nicely to their new home.

They stay all together as one chick pile, and I worried at first that they would crush each other. So far everyone has survived. I guess they take turns being on the bottom.

The next step will be putting them out in the bantam yard. Since there are so many, we are considering options for keeping them safe at night because they will not all fit in the bantam coop. We have another week or so to come up with a solution.

I’ll keep you posted. . .