allebasi4
Songster
Hi all,
Due to the California wildfires burning near our house where we have the chicken coop/run, we decided to evacuate when given the warning. Along with myself and my family, we took our 2 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, 5 brand new chicks and 2 of our four chickens (still feel so guilty about leaving the rooster and one hen behind but they have enough food & water for weeks if need be). We are very fortunate, as we own another house and were able to come here. However, I'm not sure what to do with my 2 hens. I created a "run" out of a couple dog pens which they seemed comfortable enough with but they just wanted seemed anxious to explore the yard. I don't have a proper coop here, so I thought I could get away with using a plastic dog crate though I just couldn't get myself to leave them out there overnight thinking about all the raccoons & predators we have here. They're 18 weeks old & one just laid her first egg yesterday. I feel stressed because I feel like I already stressed them out a lot & I don't know what kind of affect that will have on their laying/body. Should I try to make a make-shift nest box too? I'm not sure if I should expect her to lay again.
Do you guys think the best idea is to keep them in the dog crate in the house at night & let them in the "run" in the morning? Does anyone have any better ideas?
*deep breath* thanks!
Due to the California wildfires burning near our house where we have the chicken coop/run, we decided to evacuate when given the warning. Along with myself and my family, we took our 2 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, 5 brand new chicks and 2 of our four chickens (still feel so guilty about leaving the rooster and one hen behind but they have enough food & water for weeks if need be). We are very fortunate, as we own another house and were able to come here. However, I'm not sure what to do with my 2 hens. I created a "run" out of a couple dog pens which they seemed comfortable enough with but they just wanted seemed anxious to explore the yard. I don't have a proper coop here, so I thought I could get away with using a plastic dog crate though I just couldn't get myself to leave them out there overnight thinking about all the raccoons & predators we have here. They're 18 weeks old & one just laid her first egg yesterday. I feel stressed because I feel like I already stressed them out a lot & I don't know what kind of affect that will have on their laying/body. Should I try to make a make-shift nest box too? I'm not sure if I should expect her to lay again.
Do you guys think the best idea is to keep them in the dog crate in the house at night & let them in the "run" in the morning? Does anyone have any better ideas?
*deep breath* thanks!
