Thanks for all the answers. I had thought snakes would be hibernating at this time since the night temps have been in the 20's. Will rats kill chickens?
I put ceramic eggs in my nesting box in order to stop a chicken from eating eggs. I seemed to work but when I went out one morning, one of the ceramic eggs was missing. About a week later the other was missing. Well whatever chicken was breaking the eggs stopped so I just let it go...
Out of 7 eggs, 1 hatched Thursday night, 4 hatched on Friday, and 2 just hatched a few minutes ago so I did end up with some the day before Easter. I'm so excited since this is the first time I have used and incubator. Here is a picture through the incubator of today's chicks.
When I woke up this morning I had 3 more chicks, 2 black (a black was the first) and 2 yellow colored. I'm not sure what I'll end up with but I have a Buff Orpington Rooster and 1 Buff, 1 Rhode Island, 2 Silver-laced Wyandotte's, 1 Black Concord, and 2 White Leghorn hens so they are anybody's guess.
One of my chicks has hatched. I have 6 others, 2 of which have piped. How long do I leave the just hatched one in the incubator? Do I take him out before all have hatched or do I take it out when dried?
When I got home from work it was already dark. I drove my car over to the chicken house and a really big opossum went around the corner. I'll go back out with my shotgun in a bit and see if I can find it again.
I live in southwestern Virginia in a rural area. My pen is made of hardware wire and I have chicken wire around the bottom and out onto the ground a couple of feet to keep things from digging. Also the top is covered by chicken wire and netting. The dead chicken wasn't near the edge of the pen...
When I went out to feed and water this morning one of my chicks was gone and feathers were everywhere. Another had it's tail feathers ripped out. I found the missing chick in the run with no head and a hole where something ate part of the insides. What is the most likely culprit? A opossum?
Thank you both for your help. I can run a heat lamp to the coop to keep them warm but it is in the 70's during the day. I also like the idea that they can get used to each other if they are close together.
I just picked up 6 pullets. I is a week old and the others only a couple of days. When can I put them in a separate coop withing the chicken run and then when can I let them mix with the others that are about 1 1/2 years old?