Tag moving baby chicks outside

So yesterday was move out day for the 11 chicks.  Cindy spent a lot of time yesterday using various building materials to segment off half off the garden as chicken area.  I appreciated all of her work but I don’t know how workable/ durable the set up will be long term.

When I got home Cindy was still in the process of getting stuff ready for the big move.  The chicks were having fun running around the garden, little did they know that they were about to become full time outdoor residents.

Lucy and Lola’s reaction to the chicks were different.  Lucy didn’t seem to care much. Lola was over by the garden for a long time face to face with the chicks, occasionally trying to peck through the fencing. Lola didn’t seem very happy about sharing her grand chicken estate with others.

So we had to figure out what we wanted to do for the first night accommodations for the chickens.  We decided the safest option was to have all the chicks in the chicken tractor, up top, with the ramp closed which basically turns the coop into a bomb shelter, immune to all predators.  The big concern was having all 11 chicks that still clearly break into their respective family of 5 and 6, coexist in relatively cramped quarters up top. Eventually we want to come up with a connector between the chicken tractor and the new small coop we bought, giving the chicks a large L area that they can live in until they are old enough to move into the big house.

So shortly before dark we went out and got all the chicks up top.  As we were getting the last couple up top a thunderstorm was rolling in.  When we went inside all hell broke loose with torrential rain, booming thunder, and dangerously close lightning.  Cindy and I were very concerned for the chicks and felt terrible their first night in the yard was in the middle of a bad storm.  I imagined them being terrified.

Once the rain slowed down Cindy and I went out with the flashlight to check on the chicks to make sure they were ok.  When we cracked one of the side doors we saw a bunch of chicks huddled together like they normally do.  They didn’t seem freaked out, despite the commotion from the storm which made us feel better. This morning as soon as there was a hint of light in the sky Cindy went out and lowered the ramp.  Slowly all 11 chicks came down.  They all seemed fine and immediately started running around and eating breakfast.

I am sure there will be some challenges with this next phase of chicken wrangling but we will work through them like we always do.  My biggest concern is how Cindy and I feel so attached to the birds, knowing ahead of time that a chickens life can be fragile and dangerous.

So we are coming up on the point where the baby chicks will be living outside full time.  We have been waiting the 10 days after their Mareks vaccination before sticking them outside behind the fence line as the vaccinated chicks could potentially pass Mareks to the adult hens inside that quarantine range.  For the last couple weeks Cindy has been putting the chicks outside in the front yard for good chunks of time to start the transition.  The chicks seem to love the change.

Of course one of the concerns for them once they are outdoors full time is safety. Once they move to the backyard they will have another wall of defense since it is fenced in, protecting them from things like stray dogs but because of their size they still will have lots of potential predators.   The chicken tractor should be sufficient protection for them but we both will feel better when the babies move into the fortress we built. Cindy and I look forward to having all 13 chickens coexisting happily soon.

I wonder how many blog entries over the last 6 months have had the word “chickens” in them?