Lesson learned: don't use chicken wire around chicks

[K0k0shka]

I want to share something I learned the hard way when I almost lost a chick.

I have a broody with three chicks that she hatched in the coop. I put a chicken wire barrier across the middle of the coop to keep the other chickens out of her business during hatch and for the first week, before I let them mingle. That way the other chickens could see the babies and get used to them without being able to hurt them. I'd seen people on BYC use chicken wire for that, and I thought it was safe. And it was, for the first few days, until it almost cost one of the chicks' life! I have a camera in the coop and check it every evening, just in case. Today something wasn't right, so I went in to investigate. I found that one of the chicks had squeezed through the holes in the chicken wire and was trapped on the other side of the barrier, unable to get back under mom, and peeping its little head off! I checked the perimeter - there were no breaks or gaps in the barrier, so it must have squeezed through the holes. I put it back under its mom and zip-tied cardboard to the bottom of the barrier along the whole perimeter. Negates the whole see-but-don't-touch introduction method, as the babies and the big chickens can't really see each other through the barrier now, but I was planning on taking it down tomorrow and letting them mingle anyway. So this is only for tonight. If I do this again in the future, I will use dense hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, to make sure nobody can get through. If I hadn't found and rescued that poor baby, it would've died of hypothermia without mom's warmth tonight with lows in the 40s. Keep this in mind if you use chicken wire around chicks!

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

Thank you for sharing!

 

[jher77]

Is that chicken wire metal or string?
1" or 2" honeycomb?

 

[K0k0shka]

Is that chicken wire metal or string?
1" or 2" honeycomb?

It's metal, black vinyl coated (I had some left over from another project). I haven't measured it, but it's the standard size chicken wire that's most common.

 

[jher77]

Neither size is really common. Can be either size when you buy it. Please meausure so others will know.

 

[K0k0shka]

Neither size is really common. Can be either size when you buy it. Please meausure so others will know.

I found the link on Amazon where I got it from. It's 1".

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXRZMKU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[rosemarythyme]

If chicks are tiny enough yes they can probably slip through. I don't start using chicken wire as an enclosure for chicks until they're a little bit bigger, and unable to fit through - and since I've had chicks actually jump over it, I try to minimize the chicken wire period and transition to the panic opening period, when it doesn't matter if the chicks are on one side or another as they can simply walk underneath it.

 

[K0k0shka]

If chicks are tiny enough yes they can probably slip through. I don't start using chicken wire as an enclosure for chicks until they're a little bit bigger, and unable to fit through - and since I've had chicks actually jump over it, I try to minimize the chicken wire period and transition to the panic opening period, when it doesn't matter if the chicks are on one side or another as they can simply walk underneath it.

How does the panic opening work if the chicks are with a broody? She won’t fit through and I’m guessing they’ll want to be together. Or is it only for chicks that don’t have a mom? I’m definitely going to use a panic opening for my other batch of chicks - the incubator-hatched ones - when I rake them outside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I try to warn people that when they try to isolate a broody and chicks to make sure the chicks cannot get where Mama cannot protect them. If Mama can't protect them they are in danger from the other hens. I've had several experiences where the other hens did not bother a chick when it was by itself but I've also seen a broody hen protect its chick when she needed to. It is something that can happen. I think it is important that the broody and chicks can't get separated. They can squeeze through some pretty small holes. A couple of danger points I've seen is going under a fence that doesn't go all the way down or getting through a gate that doesn't close really well. You are not the only one that has had these issues.

Then there was your problem. I've had chicks get separated from the broody hen where they can't get back to her. It's only happened two or three times so it's pretty rare for me. I'm down there every night to manually close the pop door, that means I'm also checking on them. It's always been like you saw, the chick was peeping so you know there is a problem.

I'll add another warning. I used netting along the bottom of a fence to keep young chicks form going through. I had a couple get caught between that netting and the fence when they grew a bit. One managed to get in from the end where it wasn't sealed well enough. The other jumped up and came down between the netting and the fence. Chicks are talented, they can find all kinds of ways to get themselves in trouble.

How does the panic opening work if the chicks are with a broody?

I would not use a panic opening with a broody hen. I don't want the chicks to get somewhere the broody can't protect them. If you are going to turn the chicks loose turn the broody loose too.

 

[Mamatomany123]

How does the panic opening work if the chicks are with a broody? She won’t fit through and I’m guessing they’ll want to be together. Or is it only for chicks that don’t have a mom? I’m definitely going to use a panic opening for my other batch of chicks - the incubator-hatched ones - when I rake them outside.

Yes, it wont work if they're with mom. Heres ours when we integrated them at 3 weeks. They could fit but the big ones couldnt.

Either I have super tiny chicks or have seen just crazy openings in chicken wire because my chicks wouldnt even have to squeeze. They could just walk through