I feel horrible :(

[chloezoebob101]

We got some chicks Thursday, so we haven't even had them for a week! we got 100 cockerels ( to eat later), and some pullets. we have the cockerels and pullets separated. When we first got them, we stuck some weak roosters in with the hens, so they wouldn't have so many others around them. One of the weak ones, I nursed back to health, then put him back with the others.
Then I had the other one, which was lethargic and still can't walk around very much. I have to give him water every once in a while, but he can get around much better. I believe he will make it.
last night, we had a bantam get squished by the bigger hens, which i KNEW would happen, i just didn't get the other place fixed up in time

but IMMEDIATELY after that, i put all the other bantams in a separate box. I thought for sure 7 bantams couldn't hurt each other. I was wrong. this morning when i went to check on them, another one was dead.

to top that all off, another chick was sick, so i put the cockerel in with the pullets. I gave him water, food, but he could barely walk!

I feel like a failure

 

[Othylocke]

I wouldn't feel too bad. Without sounding callous, you are at a near 98 percent rate so far and I assume that it will only get harder to damage them as they grow older.

I'm not trying to say that chickens can't/aren't great pets, but it sounds like you have no plans to keep them as pets. Losing pets can be hard, losing a few meals isn't so bad.

 

[chloezoebob101]

I wouldn't feel too bad. Without sounding callous, you are at a near 98 percent rate so far and I assume that it will only get harder to damage them as they grow older.

I'm not trying to say that chickens can't/aren't great pets, but it sounds like you have no plans to keep them as pets. Losing pets can be hard, losing a few meals isn't so bad.

The pullets are supposed to be pets
but the roosters, no, i try not to play with them, and not get attached.( so hard though

)

 

[featheredroots]

Sorry for your losses.

Raising chickens is so hard, there's no clear cut instruction manual, and even the best laid plans can fail. You did the best you could with the situation you had, and when it didn't work you made changes. Sometimes these things just happen.

 

[chloezoebob101]

thank you! but i feel like i am failing.

 

[Othylocke]

Well don't. It really is a learning experience. You can't plan for everything and some things happen no matter how hard you try for them not to. I mean, I set fire to my house on the first day I had my chicks. Managed to only burn part of my carpet in my bedroom, but still...can you imagine the horror of hatching to go home and be right next to a fire, trapped.

 

[chloezoebob101]

Well don't. It really is a learning experience. You can't plan for everything and some things happen no matter how hard you try for them not to. I mean, I set fire to my house on the first day I had my chicks. Managed to only burn part of my carpet in my bedroom, but still...can you imagine the horror of hatching to go home and be right next to a fire, trapped.

You set your house on fire with chicks? oh no! was everyone ok?