Last night my 11 eight-week-olds spent their first night out in their brand new coop. I am confident about its predator-resistant abilities. Their first 24 hours out there went just fine, yet tonight I am a nervous wreck! I feel like going out and just pacing circles around and around the coop to make sure they are ok. Sure hope these jitters tone down with time.
your worrise should get more mild over time but nevvvver let it go away its good to be a lil on the alert side
I was wondering about the worrying thing myself! Last night we went to lock up our 10 week olds and my Exchequer starts making this caw-caw sound. Partly sounding like she was coughing/clearing her throat. Freaked me out, as this is my first time raising my own chickens. I kept trying to shush her, but she kept at it. Mind you this is the first time I have heard anything accept the young peeping sound from my chickens. She had me looking everywhere in the coop for problems! I caught her, checked her out and held her for a bit and when I put her back down she was ok and quieter, but I was still wondering what was wrong with her. But I leave them be, go to shut the shed doors and there walking through my yard is a stray cat!! Is it possible she caught sight of it that far away, smelled it or just sensed it? I have my own cats outside at times and none of the chickens have seemed to do more than follow the cat around the sides of the pen. It would seem as if I now have a black and white alarm installed in my chicken coop lol.
I believe that if you are the worrying type, the anxiety starts first, and then you find a subject to worry about. If it was not the chicks it would be the dog or kids. We worriers just have to worry even when there is nothing threatening going on. I find the best cure is excercise or chocolate.
Just when I start to relax a chicken will do something like find a hole to squeeze through and wind up in my neighbor's yard. Yes... the neighbor with a wolf hybrid who kills any critter it can find. That GOD she saw the pullet before the dog did.