- Aug 26, 2013
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I just got an order of 25 chicks. They're in a brooding pen, 7 feet long 3 feet wide. Standard hardware cloth sizes, open bottom, and I have netting over the top, and I secure it with boards and a piece of sheet kettle for the big hens to roost on. ..
They're 2 weeks old. Last week, there were 3 that were killed, and their abdomens were opened. I have a broody hen that was hanging around the pen, so I put her in there to protect them. She was digging large holes, so I turned the pen over and stapled poultry mesh all along the bottom so the chickens couldn't escape. Put dirt over the mesh.
But I still am finding a dead chick every morning abdominal contents eaten. I KNOW my broody hen isn't doing it, she's a great mom. Loves the chicks.
Uh? Rats? The pen is totally enclosed. Its 24 inches tall and the netting over the top is undisturbed. I guess a rat could squeeze through the poultry mesh, but yikes... I put bait bars inbetween the wall of my barn and storage shed, it's too narrow for any animals to get to, so it's a safe area.
This is getting expensive. The hatchery isn't selling babies and I think it's cheaper to buy an incubator and hatch my own eggs....but does anyone have any ideas how to save the 18 chicks I have left?
They're 2 weeks old. Last week, there were 3 that were killed, and their abdomens were opened. I have a broody hen that was hanging around the pen, so I put her in there to protect them. She was digging large holes, so I turned the pen over and stapled poultry mesh all along the bottom so the chickens couldn't escape. Put dirt over the mesh.
But I still am finding a dead chick every morning abdominal contents eaten. I KNOW my broody hen isn't doing it, she's a great mom. Loves the chicks.
Uh? Rats? The pen is totally enclosed. Its 24 inches tall and the netting over the top is undisturbed. I guess a rat could squeeze through the poultry mesh, but yikes... I put bait bars inbetween the wall of my barn and storage shed, it's too narrow for any animals to get to, so it's a safe area.
This is getting expensive. The hatchery isn't selling babies and I think it's cheaper to buy an incubator and hatch my own eggs....but does anyone have any ideas how to save the 18 chicks I have left?
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