Keeping Chickens Newsletter
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April 2011 |
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The
second photo shows Slinky keeping Tappy company in the nest box
until Tappy is done with her business. Since I started letting the
chickens free-range Slinky follows them around the property, keeping
an eye on them. She'll get up and move with them, sometimes for
hours, until she finally goes off to do 'cat things'.
This spring I am hoping to let one of my hens hatch out a batch of chicks. I'm not so sure that Slinky will be able to resist being a natural born predator around cute, tiny chicks. I'm thinking that I will have to keep them in an enclosure until the chicks are big enough to fend for themselves. I was thinking of a wire, roofed enclosure within the coop. How big should it be so Mama has room to stretch her legs? I just hate to keep them caged up instead of running with Mom through the grass. I would love some suggestions from the people more experienced in this situation. I won't be able to build anything elaborate, like a chicken tractor - I just want to work with what I already have. Thanks for any ideas...And thanks again for a great newsletter. I like reading about other people's experiences. Terry My Reply : You will need a hen to go broody so assuming one does then making a partition in your existing coop is one common way of allowing a broody hen and her chicks to grow whilst having a bit of protection from other members of the flock (or Slinky). The usual recommended amount of floor space is at least 2 square feet per adult bird of coop space and obviously the chicks will need to be accounted for as well - especially considering the rate at which they will grow.
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