Really Gutted....

[SuzyB]

Hi Suzy,
just thinking about your wee ones in the run as I have some to go out soon...is your run on grass or chips and is it covered? I didn't worry very much in the spring when I had chicks out as it was dry, but now its so wet, I'm not sure that putting them on wet grass is a good idea....what do you think?..

Its on the patio as I wanted to keep them quite close to the house - half the run is covered in straw, the other half in dirt to give them something to learn to scratch about in. The run comes out from the rabbit hutch and the half closest to the hutch is covered over with hard plastic wiggly sheeting (not sure of the proper name!).

My broody has always been a restless girl so she doesnt really want to be shut up in the run - she likes sitting out in the covered half of the run while the little uns seem to enjoy scratching about in the soil. I tried a cat litter tray full of dirt for her but took it out as I was worried if they did manage to get it in while it was full, once she'd flung it all out, they might not have been able to get out as the sides are slippy and slanted.

I thought it might be a bit too wet at the moment to have the run on grass, but hoping to move it once we get a bit more sunshine.

[jessmorris]

Mmmm, good idea SuzyB. I've a rectangular run and I've also got plastic corrugated sheeting on top. The rain can still come in the sides though. Maybe I'll move it off the grass onto the patio and drape half completely in polythene or summat. Then they can be outside and relatively dry. I thought I'd put them out at about a week/ten days when they've got some feathers....

[julesapple]

Morag's got her chicks out on the grass, wet or dry. I left it up to her to decide the right time to take her brood out and they've been fine. We do keep the grass bowling green short though as this stops the girls tearing the grass out by it's roots.

Daisy is in a makeshift pen on our raised bed, and her wee ones love digging around in the soft compost and they aren't 48 hours yet. She has a 'hide away' pet house with a liftable lid and a door flap and the temperature in there at night is quite high despite the chill outside. I guess the mums are like big feather sleeping bags!

Jules