Early last spring we decided to let one of our broody hens sit on a clutch of eggs. Once it was close to hatching time there was a freak weather pattern coming in and our normal 70F temps were going down into the mid-20s for a week with rain. We weren’t too keen on leaving the mom and chicks in the coop and had prepared another small enclosure for them but due to the severe cold weather, we didn’t want to chance losing the chicks.
Our first option was to bring them inside but with two cats that wouldn’t be the best so we chose to bring the hen and eggs into our enclosed back patio. There on the patio we could protect them from the extreme temperatures and our cats.
The only enclosure we had on hand was an old chicken pen that someone had given me that I was going to turn into a coffee table.
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This worked great and after the chicks had all hatched we thought “What now??”
So we looked online for brooder pens and finally decided on something that would work as well and pack away easily when not needed. We found a collapsible pet kennel to be the best option.
We found this to be just perfect!
It has two zipper doors that we can use to change out the water and feed. The mesh top cuts down on all the dust getting all over everything on the patio, and once they are moved into their forever home we can just hose it down, let it dry, and pack it back into its carrying bag. It’s so small it will slide under a bed, or couch, or just go into the garage until next time.
Inside the pen we added aspen shavings for easy clean up and to absorb any spilled water or droppings.
I added a small step ladder as a perch so they would be ready for the big coop when the time comes!
I think they like it!
Mom hen a few weeks later called it quits to be a broody hen and was returned to the main coop to be reintroduced to the flock. She first went into the hen halfway house (a small coop inside the main chicken run so the other hens get to know her again). We did not want a lot of fighting hens hurting each other because some stange hen showed up in the chicken run.
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A few weeks later it wasn’t long before these gals (guys) got to move to the chicken halfway house and get introduced to the rest of the flock. First, though they need to get all their feathers.
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