4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[MadMitch]

Can anyone tell me what age chickens can cope with the cube. I have just had an email from the place I was going to get my chickens from and she has told me that they are still only 6 weeks old. I am guessing that they may be too small to manage the cube. Does anyone know?

[Egluntyne]

The will never manage the ladder.

 

Perhaps you could rig up some sort of ramp....but you would have to be careful about them falling out of the cube too.

[MadMitch]

I was thinking of making a ramp, maybe I could leave it off the stand and just put it lower down for a while.....Oh I don't know what to do....I was so looking forward to getting them this weekend.

Good news though I can see the night freight van coming up the lane....yipee

[MadMitch]

Just had another thought. Would they be ok if I put them in a small animal hutch in the run? I could pop to the pet place and pick up something. Do chickens that age roost or will they be ok on a flat surface?Sorry for all the questions.

[Suzie]

I'm sure I read somewhere that chicks shouldn't roost - it distortes their breast bones (I could be wrong though). I think someone used a rablu to house their chicks.

[mayflower]

Hi, because our hens are ex bats and initially unable to climb the ladder, we were scratching our brains what to house them in until stronger. Then Hubby had a brainwave! Put the cube on the floor of the run!!! And that's what we did for several weeks. It's a fantastic way of introducing vulnerable hens, such as ex bats and young chics to the cube. Our reasoning was that, we did'nt want to change their henhouse after a few weeks because we felt it would be traumatic for them. OK you have to bend down to empty the pooh tray etc, but it worked for us. A few weeks later, we put the cube up on it's wheels and they soon learnt to climb up and fly down. Good luck with your young hens

[mayflower]

Oh PS, and as for the perches, you could put a piece of wood on top of and cover the perches and cover this with the bedding you are going to use. When they are old enough to perch just remove it.

[bronze]

Or you can just leave the perches out. I do this with my eglu when it has babies in it.

[MadMitch]

Thanks for all your help I was begining to think that I would have to wait weeks to get my chickens.

I will pop the cube on the ground or maybe on a couple of bricks with a small ramp.

Sorry but one other thing....what do I feed them, is it growers pellets or are they still too young for them.

I cant picture what size a chicken is at 6 weeks....I was thinking that they would be quiet tiny but I guess they must be a reasonable size as I have just read that all mass produced eating chickens are slaughtered at 6 weeks.

[Nuggywoo]

Sorry not in any particular order but I hope the following helps you:

 

1) Feed them growers pellets then over a period of time add a few layers pellets so by the time they're about 12-16 weeks they should be on layers full time - slowly but surely is the best way.

 

2) Re: perches - I had a bamboo cane in with my lot (from about 7 weeks), it was only about 3" off the floor (they loved it but only to jump about on) then when I put them outside in the ark I gave them a thickish branch to 'rest' on during the day.

 

3) If I were you I'd put the cube on the ground and every other week raise it a few inches - you'll be surprised at how much chicks grow!

 

4) 6 wk olds are quite small (depending on breed!) probably about the size of a woodpigeon type thing for a large fowl.

 

ps I'd stick to a ramp always as opposed to a ladder, if chickens were meant to climb ladders they'd be roofers.

[Helly Welly]

 

ps I'd stick to a ramp always as opposed to a ladder, if chickens were meant to climb ladders they'd be roofers.

 

There's nothing wrong with the ladder, some chooks don't get on with it but yours won't know any better. I would have thought it resembled them roosting in trees and climbing over branches. Mine don't have a problem with it at all, they seem to quite like it.

[Nuggywoo]

There's nothing wrong with the ladder, Mine don't have a problem with it at all, they seem to quite like it.

They have a choice??

[Helly Welly]

They sit on it and watch the world go by and can negotiate quite easily. If they didn't like it they'd flap up and down it as some others do and certainly wouldn't perch on it.

 

I know that not everyone likes the ladder, i'm just saying that it isn't the same for everybody.