Comment by Jesse on December 8, 2011 at 2:29am

So you have Salatin pens, but they can all leave and roam within the enclosure? Do you lock them in the pens at night? If not, do you have issues with too many gathering in one area at night and piling? 

Comment by Rich Hamilton on December 8, 2011 at 7:38am

I found taking the time to ensure they all go in at night to be an exercise in frustration & time consuming, so I let them choose where they sleep, and rely on the electric netting to keep them safe. They all get under when they need the cover. The only prediotr issue we had was with an owl paying a visit...

We had no issues with smothering once we moved to the day range, but it wasn't terribly cold when they were young either. Earlier in the year we did have a couple of issues, but that was when the pens were down all the time...also, they chose to pile in the one segment that had no roof - so they were in the cold rain and I lost a bunch. The rest I pulled out and put back in the brooder under heat lamps and they reveived nicely.

They do tend to gather together, so sleeping arrangements are much denser than they would be with them in their own pens - but they are free all day, so they seem to be happy with the arrangement. Overall we are pretty pleased with the setup and plan on continuing the process next year.

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