Do you worry about your chicks?

Ha! I am a worry wort also. I live in North Florida so the cold we have here is sporatic and usually doesn't last long but our summers are hot and humid so I built for the heat. Hardware cloth all sides except one wooden wall and a three foot corner piece off the wood wall. I just stapled plastic on all sides except about 1/2 of the front. It cuts the wind which I understand is the worst for them. We shall see. I'll go you one better 7L farm....I worry about other people's chickens.
sharon
 
You know as well as I seeing your chicks running away from you shaking her fuzzy butt is priceless.
 
No, I don't really worry about mine as they free range all day. They do have a Dalmatian and a Rottweiler looking over them though, and besides, we don't get any real predators here apart from the two legged variety, and they are for the most part terrified of Rottweilers
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!0-4 Sharon me too. Guess ,I shouldn't admit on the Internet. I just hate to read about other peoples tragedies. It hurts.
 
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I'm in the College Station area of Texas. Your right to us these last couple of morning have been cold. But one thing I'm not worried about is my chickens being cold. Heck, after this summer their loving it. My coop is pretty open as well for the heat. If it gets cold like last year I'll probably put a tarp over one window.
 
I worry less about predation at night since I had my new coop built. Any raccoon wanting to get in there is going to need a copy of the door key or a reciprocating saw.

I am starting to worry a little about cold this winter since I have teeny tiny bantams. The smallest one is only about 3/4 of a pound! The new coop is well insulated but I'm starting to think about maybe putting in a small heating pad that they can huddle up against on the coldest nights. We usually get a few nights below freezing here each winter.
 
I don't worry about the cold since I can help out with that. I do worry about predators, since it has happened before. Seemingly safe containment resulting in coons stealing heads. Like... leaving the bird, taking what it could reach, with those grubby little fingers. I had a beautiful pair of Crested birds in a quarantine cage. Didn't even get to stay 24 hours. Another was taken by a hawk. Also had a hawk come down RIGHT BY ME, and a fox was chasing them around and I set the cattle dog we used to own out and she took care of that. That was when I was growing up, at an age where I would remember that. The hawk coming down right by me was last year with a different flock, when I had tiny Bantams.

So now, in our suburban house, everything down low and all coop windows are small square hardware wire. Stabled to the window frames from inside, doubled the wood frame to be inside and out, with solid bolts holding them together. Welded wire fencing on the roof of the run. No hawks, no coons, nothing is getting in there. So now that that is built like the chicken Ft Knox, I don't worry too much.

Now I only worry about disease coming out when it gets really cold, if they've been harboring something since I got them that only extreme temperatures will bring out. So, I have a heat source out there, insulation, the works. Also electrolytes and antibiotics on hand.

I worry about a lot of stuff anyways, if they're getting enough nutrients (so I treat them a lot), if they're digesting right (so I rub their crops and check) if eggs are coming right... easy to check that.

One of my White Face Black Spanish is missing a tail. I thought... something grabbed it and it would grow back. She also holds her head odd. Very alert, active, and flighty as could be. I haven't managed to catch her since I got her in a low stress manner. But her tail is not growing back, it's been about 2 months. So I need to catch her and stress her out, to see what the deal is. Her sister is perfect.
 
Don't mean to hijack the thread, but - that yak is gorgeous! I fell in love with them a little bit in Central Asia a few years ago, and just got back from a trip to Nepal where they had the most beautiful little calves (?) out with their mothers. I'd get one like a shot if I didn't live in the tropics. Lucky you, Illia!
 

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