Ideas for "safe zone" box for chicks

[629864]

Hi all,

I've been looking for ideas for adding several "safe zone" boxes to our chicken run and coop for future chicks to seek refuge in while growing up within the flock. We'll be using a broody hen (not separated to another area) to hatch the eggs, so the chicks will be with the flock from day one. I saw this brooder heater and thought the design (building one myself but without the lamp) would work well as a safe box.

Then, I got to thinking that other people may have taken stuff they already had laying around (plastic bins, old toy boxes, cabinets, etc) and cut doors to convert them into nifty safe zone boxes.

If you have, please post photos of what you've used.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's creative ideas!

 

[nuthatched]

Some people use milk crates or cages with wire big enough for the chicks to go through but not bigger chickens

 

[Ridgerunner]

What is the purpose of your "safe zone" box? If a broody hen is raising the chicks she should take care of them and protect them. When they are threatened they'll run to her, not to some box. The adults will often wipe out any food I set out for the chicks, even if they are all eating the same feed. I made this "creep feeder" out of scraps so the chicks could eat in peace the first their first couple of weeks. The broody hen would take them to it first thing in the morning, even if she could not eat from it.

Once the hen weans them my chicks know to stay away from the adults but I have enough room they can do that. If room is tight I could see a benefit to them having a safe haven they can run to but that concept is usually when they are pretty small and don't have a broody hen to protect them. Still I could see doing that.

A lot of people fence off an end of the run to create that safe haven. Maybe use wire mesh with holes big enough for the chicks but not the adults. Maybe raising the bottom of that fence just enough for the chicks or cutting holes.

If your design is to keep adults out it will not work. Adults can get through a hole that size. And the chicks need an escape out the other end.

 

[3KillerBs]

I shifted parts of their integration pen to allow openings just wide enough to wedge a brick into -- that being about the size that my 5-6-week chicks could get through but the adults *mostly* couldn't.

Here are threads which include more photos:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/25-from-welp.1494343/post-25025897

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/introducing-the-ideal-dozen.1469451/post-24637966

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ocumenting-the-process.1469700/#post-24483513

And a whole thread on my most recent setup: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/setting-up-an-integration-facility.1496470/

 

[yakitori]

I’ve found large dog crates to be perfect. I keep the broody in the crate (pan removed) and the little ones enter and exit as they please. I’ve found that most of my chicks can hold their own by 3 weeks old.

 

[629864]

What is the purpose of your "safe zone" box? If a broody hen is raising the chicks she should take care of them and protect them. When they are threatened they'll run to her, not to some box. The adults will often wipe out any food I set out for the chicks, even if they are all eating the same feed. I made this "creep feeder" out of scraps so the chicks could eat in peace the first their first couple of weeks. The broody hen would take them to it first thing in the morning, even if she could not eat from it.
View attachment 2967690

Once the hen weans them my chicks know to stay away from the adults but I have enough room they can do that. If room is tight I could see a benefit to them having a safe haven they can run to but that concept is usually when they are pretty small and don't have a broody hen to protect them. Still I could see doing that.

A lot of people fence off an end of the run to create that safe haven. Maybe use wire mesh with holes big enough for the chicks but not the adults. Maybe raising the bottom of that fence just enough for the chicks or cutting holes.

If your design is to keep adults out it will not work. Adults can get through a hole that size. And the chicks need an escape out the other end.

I love your creep feeder! And I really appreciate your feedback. We want the entire flock to stay together instead of using incubators/brooding pens/ and partitions. I haven't done this yet, so it'll be new to us. I figured the chicks might need a safe zone when they got a little bigger and more independent but not so big that they were fully confident on their own. It's good to hear that they'll stick by mama until then. We have plenty of "junk" in their run for chickens to explore. Maybe I'll just add a few more for the littles to explore and not get chased.

 

[629864]

I shifted parts of their integration pen to allow openings just wide enough to wedge a brick into -- that being about the size that my 5-6-week chicks could get through but the adults *mostly* couldn't.

Here are threads which include more photos:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/25-from-welp.1494343/post-25025897

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/introducing-the-ideal-dozen.1469451/post-24637966

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ocumenting-the-process.1469700/#post-24483513

And a whole thread on my most recent setup: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/setting-up-an-integration-facility.1496470/

The brick is brilliant! Exactly the right size.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Since you're using a broody, unless she's a very low ranked or docile bird that might not protect the babies well, it'd probably be enough to add more junk to the run and let the mama do her job.

Chick only openings work to exclude all adult sized birds, so wouldn't work as well when a hen is also involved. And yes, in that case an opening the size of a brick, or the hole in a chain link fence, is the type of opening you'd actually want to aim for, as hens can squeeze into surprisingly small openings if they really want to.

 

[neo71665]

Basically a 2x4 wire built into a box. I keep the chicks feeder and waterer in it. The small birds can go into the openings of the wires but the big birds cant get in and eat all their chick feed.

 

[yakitori]

What is the purpose of your "safe zone" box? If a broody hen is raising the chicks she should take care of them and protect them. When they are threatened they'll run to her, not to some box.

My wonderful broody was at the bottom of the pecking order, she would stand up against cats and any other threat but oh my, was she scared of ... other chickens! It made for a good laugh. I had HER in a crate, and soon her children were braver than she was, eating just fine along side the big girls. I think it may have been some kind of ptsd from being bullied too much, or she never grew up learning proper chicken manners so the other girls were constantly picking on her.