Are sick chicks an everyday occurance?

[Waters-flock]

We've hatched and raised at least a hundred chicks in the last few months (wife loves raising them, selling or gifting them to friends), and bought about another 20 or so from the feed store. We've had a half dozen losses, most were due to a couple chicks being killed by "not the momma" or an opossum. I've had only one chick die from defect/illness or disease- it had an umbilical hernia. Within minutes of it hatching, I gently worked it back in, dabbed a bit of antibacterial ointment on the belly button, and made sure it stayed closed. It was active, eating and drinking with the others that evening but I woke up to find it dead the next morning, and the belly button was still closed.

Don't overthink it; you'll do well and they'll be fine. If an issue does pop up, this forum is an incredible resource filled with exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful members.

I love having experts to reach out to and there are lots of experts here.

 

[Waters-flock]

Ft. Knox is great, it's hard to actually overbuild. We do free range, and that's when most losses happen. It's a trade off between safety and having more active chickens, and bad things do happen out there.
Mary

I built two coops, each with a fairly big run and those two runs have a door that can be opened. But I have enough land to let them free range but I worry so much about the predators that I'm thinking I will only let them out when I'm there. I know that's no guarantee (I see critters all the time - they are not afraid of me) but the idea of letting the girls go out and roam is very appealing.

 

[wordgirl]

I built two coops, each with a fairly big run and those two runs have a door that can be opened. But I have enough land to let them free range but I worry so much about the predators that I'm thinking I will only let them out when I'm there. I know that's no guarantee (I see critters all the time - they are not afraid of me) but the idea of letting the girls go out and roam is very appealing.

I love having my chickens free-range, but you do have to look at your particular setting and determine what level of risk exists and what you are personally comfortable with. If you think it's okay, your chickens will love it and you will love seeing them poking around everywhere.

I have free-ranged several flocks and have only lost a few chickens due to predators while they are outside, and we are in a pretty rural area with decent wildlife. We hear coyotes at night and I have seen a couple on occasion. We have raccoons and possums in the neighborhood. There are foxes nearby, though I've never seen them on our property. We've had a couple of black bears (though I don't see them as particularly dangerous to the chickens...more to bird feeders, sigh). But we also have almost always had dogs and I think that helps keep some of the wildlife at bay. For my current dog, one of her highest joys in life is bolting out the door to try to catch a squirrel before it can make it to a tree. She has successfully caught a rabbit (which I rescued from her) and a few weeks ago barked our neighbor's wandering Great Pyrenees off our property (my dog isn't quite 50 pounds). So she takes it upon herself to try to protect our property from intruders as much as possible.

The trouble with dogs is...sometimes they like to chase your chickens, too. Even though I'd feel comfortable letting my flock free-range based on my prior experience with low losses outside in our area, I can't because my current dog would like to either wrestle with my chickens or kill them--I'm not quite sure and she won't tell me. Either way, I don't think it would end well for my chickens. So my chickens are in a pen for now, though I sorely miss them being out wandering the yard. If it's safe, I hope you can free-range yours.

Edited to say: I've only lost a few CHICKENS not whole flocks.

 

[lilmillefleur]

I've had bad luck with MPC--not one but TWO scissor beaks from a total of only 10-12 chicks over the past few years. But it's just that--luck. I've never had a DOA, only one early casualty (not including the scissor beaks which died young). But it's just that--luck. The others were perfectly healthy.
You'll do great, regardless of how your luck goes! Best wishes!