Hi! I'm a new chicken owner, too. I got 6 chicks two months ago. Now I have only five but I was expecting an even higher attrition rate. The chick died just a day or two after we got her. Here is what I learned.... If you are getting chicks, don't handle them a lot, they are so delicate and you can hurt them and never know (I live with a lot of guilt for letting the neighborhood kids pet them). Also, I was told to get an automatic chicken door that closes and opens at a certain time every day or with the sun. Predators will get in the fenced in area, the can dig and get into the run, but the coop, the actual nesting place for the chickens, needs to be Fort Knox. I got a chicken door from chicken doors.com, but Fleming and Murray McMurray also have them. It is a lot of money but I don't regret it at all. I know raccoons have been in my yard because they have gotten into the compost and scratched around the coop, but they can't get to the chickens at night. Good luck!
