4 babies lost

TanZ

Chirping
7 Years
Aug 21, 2014
17
2
82
I have been doing well I thought and so has the mom. However the last few days I have found some of the babies out of the coop and looking to get back in. With what I thought was a fix for the problem yesterday, today sadly 4 of the 5 babies are gone. I looked all over for them. Don't hear them and now sadly I think the Cats got them. They have been doing so well and growing so fast. mom been keeping them warm at night and all have been so happy. After taking care of them this morning all of them in the coop. I went to a Doc Appt. When I return home I go out there to look over the Flock and make sure water is clean and everyone is happy to find only ONE baby in the coop. After looking for them for the last 20min they are gone.

Sad day
James
 
No I had the family together. The Hen, Rooster and the babies. They have been together from the day we got them (Rooster and Hen) and I didn't think removing the Rooster was needed. I watched them to make sure they were ok. I don't understand why they have been taking off. Only can say that some young cats that have been dropped off on the farm in the last 2 months must be the ones that got ahold of them. I keep moving them out of the Chicken area and they have now been looking over the place like they are waiting for the next meal to escape. 10 kittens all under 4 months old have been dropped off and with the ones I have already they have been accepted into the farm. But grrrr this just upsets me. I just wish I knew what one did this. But I guess next time I will just raise them myself.

James..
 
It is not your rooster. I leave my broody hen with the whole flock.

I am not quite sure what you are saying. Were the chicks leaving the broody hen? Or did the broody hen go back into the coop and the chicks could not follow her? Mine will always create a new nest on the floor for her and the chicks for a couple of weeks, and then move them up to roost. While on the floor, at night, the coop needs to be predator proof. Rooster is NO protection at night.

Generally with a good broody hen, the chicks do not get far from her for weeks, they are like a blanket following the hen. Do you have a run fenced? With a lot of cats around, that is a lot of competition for feed, and chicks are easy prey if the get separated from the hen. My broody usually has everyone outside with 48 hours of hatching, but she does stay close to the coop run for several weeks. At night, they do need to be locked up securely, as a predator can really get them if the predator can get into the coop at night. Cats, racoons, and bobcats are all very good at this.

Mrs K
 
I too am a bit confused, are your hen, rooster & chicks free-ranging or are they in a secure enclosure? As soon as my chicks hatched, I took them from Mama, because she was setting on her eggs, under the steps of our deck. Chicks came in day of hatch, Mama came out the next day, got her & put Mama with her chicks in a Rubbermaid container inside the house, till they were almost 4 weeks old. Then moved Mama & babies out to a large black pond container I had on the deck, covered it with a screen, Mama stayed with the chicks till the fifth week, then she went back to the coop with the other hens. Babies were moved to their own enclosed area after that, but brought back to the pond container at night. Chicks are now 3 months old, and have been moved to the 2nd main coop I have, it has it's own secure fenced area, separate from the main coop & run. Because the chicks are Banty size, I do not want my roo's to hurt them. My hubby tried to see how they would do, but their Uncle, started going after them, so it was back to the pen for them.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom