Chicken Newbie!

Date sort Score sort
4mountainchicks

4mountainchicks

In the Brooder
Jun 12, 2015
23
2
34
Mountains of Colorado
Hi there, completely new to chicken raising and I am loving this website. It is so helpful! We just brought home 4 10 week old pullets, 2 Easter Eggers and 2 Golden Laced Wyandottes. My kids are in love can't say the chickens feel the same. I am already running out to secure our coop. Unfortunately we inherited poultry netting and to cut cost we used it. I am now finding out its worthless. Only keeps chickens, not predators out. Should have asked that question first....Ha! Im sure there is much more to learn.....
 
Hi :welcome

Glad you could join the flock! Congratulations on your new pullets :celebrate Raising chickens is a fantastic hobby and something the whole family can enjoy.

Sorry to hear you are having problems with predators already. They really are pests and poultry netting will not keep them out. You would be better with hard ward cloth and make things as secure as you possibly can. I learnt the hard way and lost birds to a fox thinking i was secure and clearly was not. Once they know they a free meal is on offer they will continue to return. Good luck with making things more secure.

Drop by the learning centre, lots of great articles on keeping your birds safe and happy.

Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat :frow
 
1/2" hardware cloth securely affixed to fence posts, is most recommended, costs more lasts much longer. Raccoons can not get their slimy hands thru the mesh to snag chicken parts and bite them off. Really hate raccoons. Can you tell? You might want to scope out the predators and coops sections for more safeguards.
welcome-byc.gif
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided join our flock. X2 on hardware cloth. There are just too many predators that can tear through chicken wire, or squeeze through the openings in the mesh. Hardware cloth is more expensive than chicken wire, but it's cheaper than replacing your flock. Also, if you have racoons in the area, make sure and either use a padlock or a double action latch on your coop door as racoons can easily figure out how to open a single action latch. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on predator proofing your chickens. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in protecting your flock.
 
Thanks everyone! So far our little hens seem happy. I added hardware cloth yesterday and a double action latch on the coop door. We let them out of their run yesterday for the first time. So much fun to watch. I'm kinda amazed that they know where home is already. The Wyandottes are definitely bolder than the Easter eggers., is that common or just my little herds pecking order?
 
4mountainchicks said:
Thanks everyone! So far our little hens seem happy. I added hardware cloth yesterday and a double action latch on the coop door. We let them out of their run yesterday for the first time. So much fun to watch. I'm kinda amazed that they know where home is already. The Wyandottes are definitely bolder than the Easter eggers., is that common or just my little herds pecking order?
Click to expand...

You're welcome. The hardware cloth and double action latch will give them good protection. :eek:) My Wyandottes were typically bolder than my Easter Eggers as well, but of course there are always exceptions.
 
Welcome to the BYC flock (a couple months belated)! We are glad you joined us!

I hope you get that first egg soon. It is so EGG-citing! Some people on here even save their first egg (after blowing out the yolk, of course) Wish I had thought to do that with my first egg.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom