- Apr 30, 2014
- 31
- 1
- 24
Last year I had around 26 chicks. I added younger ones to older ones and got them from several sources. They kept dying off, one at a time. After reading up on it I figured that there must have been a disease that was getting to them all. I eventually lost all of them but one, which ended up getting run over by my neighbor's truck.
So this year I got all my birds from the same source, a gentleman who hatches them all on his property. I got them at 4 months old, in hopes that I'd get eggs before winter. Now I've had 7 of the 8 die off. After the first few died, I assumed it might be their water source being dirty, so I've been much more diligent about getting down there and giving them new water every day. I also just picked up some hooks to hang their waterer up so they can't get dirt and poop into it. I just had three more die. Now I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm not feeding them enough or what is going on?
The only other factor I could see being an issue is the neighbor also got new chickens this year, a little younger than mine, and they are allowed to free range. I've seen them over on my property a few times and shooed them away, but I'm not sure if maybe they are spreading a disease possibly to my birds?
So I guess the question I have is, how much should I be feeding 8 birds (is there a rule, or is it kind of a guessing game)? Also, if their water gets a little dirty between changing the water, how quickly will they quit drinking it or get sick from it. And if my neighbor's birds aren't dying, should I ask him to keep them penned in so they don't get over to my property? Mine are penned in, but if they get close to the pen then they could still be infecting them, right?
So this year I got all my birds from the same source, a gentleman who hatches them all on his property. I got them at 4 months old, in hopes that I'd get eggs before winter. Now I've had 7 of the 8 die off. After the first few died, I assumed it might be their water source being dirty, so I've been much more diligent about getting down there and giving them new water every day. I also just picked up some hooks to hang their waterer up so they can't get dirt and poop into it. I just had three more die. Now I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I'm not feeding them enough or what is going on?
The only other factor I could see being an issue is the neighbor also got new chickens this year, a little younger than mine, and they are allowed to free range. I've seen them over on my property a few times and shooed them away, but I'm not sure if maybe they are spreading a disease possibly to my birds?
So I guess the question I have is, how much should I be feeding 8 birds (is there a rule, or is it kind of a guessing game)? Also, if their water gets a little dirty between changing the water, how quickly will they quit drinking it or get sick from it. And if my neighbor's birds aren't dying, should I ask him to keep them penned in so they don't get over to my property? Mine are penned in, but if they get close to the pen then they could still be infecting them, right?