Lost another bird today. From my first brood.

[x1lclem]

I'm down to six of my original 12 birds. Four were lost to predators, I assume because they just never came back at night. One was hit by a car. Today I lost one to disease. Not exactly sure what it was, she'd been molting for ever, 8-10 weeks. She had been broody for 8 weeks before that, so we figured her unkempt appearance was normal. Noticed she was lethargic yesterday, and got some medicine today. But she died before I could give it to her. Poor girl. Adios, broody.

 

[cypressdrake]

Those are not good numbers. Maybe they need to stay fenced up if the predators are that bad.

 

[x1lclem]

I lost four out of 12 to predators in 18 months. That's not as bad as I was expecting. It's also sustainable. I just got 14 new birds and that'll hold the flock up until spring when I buy more. I considered a fence, but they have such fulfilling lives out grazing in the woods and the grass.