Poorly chicken

[NatalieC90]

Hello all,

We are due to bring our 7 week old girls home this week and have the Eglu Go all set up for them.

 

When building the run I was reading the instruction manual online and it said that the Eglu Go is only suitable for chickens 12 weeks and older. We don't have anywhere else for them to go at the moment so will they be okay?

 

What age were your chickens when you first put them in the Eglu Go? 

[Cat tails]

7 weeks is a bit young to go out permanently. They won’t need a electric hen anymore, but might be too small to keep themselves warm at night. 
Weather permitting they should be fine outside during the day, but not if it’s wet, cold or very windy.

Maybe you can borrow a bunny/guinea pig cage to keep them indoors for a couple more weeks?

[Beantree]

I'd also be looking for places where small feet could get caught and broken. I'm sure Omlet have specified 12 weeks for good reason, so I wouldn't suggest trying them in it any younger. Perhaps delay your collection?

[Luvachicken]

We got my chicks in February, when they were 5 weeks old.

We managed to buy them a cage from Amazon similar to a big indoor guinea-pig cage.

We kept them indoors for a while, just popping them out for a couple of hours each day once they were bigger, if it was nice.

We gradually increased their time outside until they were big enough to go outside permanently.

They finally moved outside a couple of weeks ago as we were still bringing them in at bedtime.

[mullethunter]

My last lot moved outside into an Eglu Go at 7 weeks, but that was in August. If they are well feathered and the weather is mild I think they’ll be fine (obviously that does depend a bit on where in the world you live). As Cattails said though, if it’s wet / windy / cold you’ll need to make sure the run is well covered so they don’t get cold.

I think it’s probably the roosting bars that are the issue in the Go. You can overcome this problem by just putting a LOT of bedding in so that it fills up all the gaps and becomes a flat floor.

[Cat tails]

18 minutes ago, mullethunter said:

My last lot moved outside into an Eglu Go at 7 weeks, but that was in August. If they are well feathered and the weather is mild I think they’ll be fine (obviously that does depend a bit on where in the world you live). As Cattails said though, if it’s wet / windy / cold you’ll need to make sure the run is well covered so they don’t get cold.

I think it’s probably the roosting bars that are the issue in the Go. You can overcome this problem by just putting a LOT of bedding in so that it fills up all the gaps and becomes a flat floor.

Or temporarily take the roosting bars out and just leave the poop drawer in. Do you have a Go Up or ground Go? Very young chicks might need a little help with the ladder if your coop is a Go Up. Placing some extra roosting bars close to the ladder can help them.

[NatalieC90]

We have the standard Go on the floor so won't be an issue with them getting in and out of it luckily. For the roosting bars issue I have ordered some fine wire mesh which I will wrap the edges in gaffer tape for safety. This can sit on top of the bars, covered in pine shavings so no risk of tripping over. 

 

I have managed to source a borrowed dog crate which I will set up as a night time option for them in the shed for the first few weeks until this wet, windy weather patch passes and they are over double figures. 

 

Will post pictures of their shed AirBnB in case anyone has made a similar thing with a dog crate that can offer any advice. 

 

Many thanks everyone

[Cat tails]

Good work! Of course we like to see pictures! Especially of chicks!

[Luvachicken]

4 hours ago, NatalieC90 said:

Will post pictures of their shed AirBnB in case anyone has made a similar thing with a dog crate that can offer any advice. 

We put ours in a dog crate until the guinea pig cage arrived.

We made the newspaper go well up the sides but even then they managed to kick the bedding out and poop where they shouldn't.

Coop cups are pretty useful for food and water around the sides.

[NatalieC90]

So, built the crate yesterday, luckily it fit perfectly in the little gap I had in my shed! They will be nice and protected from the elements here and I can let the into the run one at a time each day.

 

I had a box from my daughter's bike which fit perfectly to close in the sides so they shouldn't kick too much out! The boxes are not so high sided that they won't be able to get from one box to another if they want to. I will add wood shavings to the boxes tonight and secure the blanket to the top with cable ties as I ran out after fixing the cardboard.

 

Will let you know how the girls like it on Thursday when they come home! xx

[Cat tails]

That looks really good! Lucky chickens!

[mullethunter]

I have that dog crate to use as a broody cage and a henspital - it’s very useful!

[NatalieC90]

The girls came home yesterday - wettest day of the year so far I think!!

They are all gingernut rangers, we have 2 slightly older ones called Babs and Gloria, and two younger ones called Moira (after Moira Rose from Schitt's Creek) and HeiHei as my daughter is obsessed with Moana!! 

 

They did really well on their first day! We covered over the run to keep them dry as I was worried about them being too small to keep warm if they got too wet. They didn't have much interest in the water at first but the volume was definitely going down across the day so that was okay - they ate loads of chick crumb though! Not ready to explore the Eglu too much yet but that will come in time - I'd rather they were out exploring the run than huddling inside the coop scared. 

 

Putting them to bed in the shed cage was very challenging on my own as my husband was out - only lost control of one of them and had to chase her round the garden! The other three were a lot easier. 

 

Getting them up in the morning was better with the two of us, we are trying to figure out the best way to do all the daily tasks between us. Put the girls in the run via the coop so they get used to being in it at least for a short while. 

 

Will keep posting pictures and updates if anyone is interested! Thanks for all your help so far! 

[Luvachicken]

Awww, how sweet they all look together.

You will soon spend all day watching them and not doing much else.

[Cat tails]

They look properly cute! What a lovely bunch!

What breed are they?

[mullethunter]

They’re doing heaping 😍 I love it when they do that 😍 

Oh and keep the photos coming - we’re all interested!!!

[NatalieC90]

We understand they are gingernut rangers! Also they all seem like girls! Hoping they are definitely girls!

They have settled in so well. They are getting used to us handling them more now, especially as we have to take them in and out of the shed each night for bed! They definitely seem to be growing quickly too! Took them about 3 days to realise they can go inside the Eglu when it is raining (silly things!) and now they like going in and out as they please during the day.

 

We are learning about being good chicken parents each day - basically bought new stuff everyday as we just weren't as prepared as we thought we were! They now have a big grit tray to scrape around in and my husband has hung an old DVD from the top of the coop for them to play with! 

 

Just hoping they start to settle down and poop a bit less as they are just machines still at the moment! Does seem to be decreasing a bit but its a good 20 mins of raking and composting each night at bedtime!

[Cat tails]

😂 get used to the poop... it won’t get less...

Gingernut rangers are quite big chickens, do consider an extension to the run, as the standard Go Up run will definitely be on the small side for 4 standard sized chickens.

[NatalieC90]

Hahaha - oh no! Maybe we will feed them less..... just kidding - would never do that! 

 

We have got an extension for it and a WIR for the future as they are still within the size limits at the moment. We are hoping to move over the summer so don't want to build too much before we have to move, but if that gets pushed off the table then they will move into the WIR in the summer, just before they are due to start laying

[Cat tails]

3 minutes ago, NatalieC90 said:

Hahaha - oh no! Maybe we will feed them less..... just kidding - would never do that! 

 

We have got an extension for it and a WIR for the future as they are still within the size limits at the moment. We are hoping to move over the summer so don't want to build too much before we have to move, but if that gets pushed off the table then they will move into the WIR in the summer, just before they are due to start laying

That sounds like a great plan!!