Chicken Auntie.

[RyansMommy32712]

Hello All! I can't say that I'm a chicken mama, since the chickens are technically my sisters, there was some unfortunate circumstances and the girls needed to move to our place. So here I am, proud auntie to 4 chickens 2 Rhode Island Reds, and 2 that I'm not sure of the breed, they could be reds as well but they are smaller (they are also about 3-4 months younger), but they have a darker coloring, and just seem a bit smaller in stature. We found our first 2 eggs today, so I'm thinking the reds are laying! They've been through so much trauma in their little chicken lives (a dog attacked and killed one of their "sisters", and then after moving them here, a racoon was able to reach in the coop and scratched up one of the reds, thankfully shes ok. They are some of the most loving chickens I've ever met. Never knew I'd fall in love with a chicken (or four!)

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! Congrats on becoming a chicken auntie Sorry to hear one was lost and another nearly by a raccoon. Predators are real pests and will often return once they know a meal is there for them. Can you make it so a raccoon can't get through to scratch them? Although we don't have raccoons over here in the UK I have read that they will pull birds through too flimsy wire and kill them.

Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.
Wishing you the very best of luck with your new chicken journey.
Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

 

[dawg53]

Welcome to BYC.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[N F C]

Hi and welcome to BYC!

@Yorkshire coop is right, a raccoon can reach in and partially pull a chicken out so you want to be sure the wire is strong enough to keep them out (that means no chicken wire) and the wire mesh small enough a coon can't get it's hand in there. You may want to check out the predator and pest section of the Learning Center to get ideas on how to best protect the chickens:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-predators-pests-how-to-protect-treat-your-flock

Good of you to take on the role of Chicken Auntie! It's very easy to get attached to birds, they are so interesting and fun.

If you have questions, feel free to ask. There are a lot of friendly and knowledgeable members here.

Nice to have you join us!

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm glad you joined our community!

 

[nj2wv]

Welcome to BYC !!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hi Chicken Auntie so glad you joined the flock. Raccoons are notorious for snagging body parts and eating off whatever they can reach. If they don't kill a bird outright, they cause the most devastating wounds. 1/2" hardware cloth is the best wiring to put around a run. They can't reach through it and can't tear it apart. It does a lot toward repelling other predators as well. So sorry for your loss.

 

[RyansMommy32712]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! Congrats on becoming a chicken auntie

Sorry to hear one was lost and another nearly by a raccoon. Predators are real pests and will often return once they know a meal is there for them. Can you make it so a raccoon can't get through to scratch them? Although we don't have raccoons over here in the UK I have read that they will pull birds through too flimsy wire and kill them.

Be sure to ask any questions that you may have, everyone here to help and very friendly.
Wishing you the very best of luck with your new chicken journey.
Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

We went out and reinforced the cage with some small hole galvanized hard ware wire, so the coon can't reach through and got the house built, so they have a place to get up into and hide.