Chick Moving Day

Too big for their old home now!

 So, today is a big milestone for the chicks.  Today, they moved outside into the big chicken pen.  Of course, some adjustments had to be made.  It is far too cold for them.
So I spent a few hours yesterday covering the run with plastic sheeting. And by the way, that is hard to do on a windy day, when you are doing it yourself.   Anyway, doing this created basically a greenhouse inside the run.  Though it is cold and windy outside today, inside that chick greenhouse it is very nice and toasty.

How toasty? It is 43F outside. It is 90F inside.

 After creating a wind and waterproof covering, I took lots of straw and laid that down on the ground. The ground is still frozen and cold, and there is even still snow in one corner, but this thick layer of straw will keep the chicks well insulated from the wet cold ground. Plus it is a healthier environment than bare dirt.

Into the moving bix, chicks!

Moving Box

Moving Truck, sort of.

The chick greenhouse... 9 x 20 feet, exponentially bigger than their crate. 

the big hens come to see what the fuss is all about.

Day 21A  Into the New Pen

They were wary at first, but it didn't take too long for them to all come out of the box and take a look around. They all stuck together, moving as one big clump o' chicks.... it reminded me of watching 6 year olds play soccer. 

I went back later to check on them, and they were feeling much more at home, exploring and generally just acting like chickens!  The noise in the background is the plastic sheeting blowing around a bit in the wind.  It is so toasty in here I want to take a nap on the clean straw... 

Day 21 B  The New Digs are Cool, uh, Warm

So, I am not totally decided where I want to put them at night. They have the heat lamp here, and the run wont get as cold even at night for quite awhile because of the residual heat gathered during the day.

However, I am a little concerned about some predator being able to dig under the doorway... it's pretty secure, but a determind raccoon can manage to get in just about anything.  So the other option is to herd them all back into the crate at night, inside the larger chicken coop. It's more secure, even if it might be a bit colder. They will have a heat lamp there as well,,. decisions, decisions.