- Mar 26, 2007
- 108
- 2
- 141
A couple days ago, I went out in the AM to check the "kids" and found Brownie my largest male Americana (EE) dead on the ground. We took him into the shed for light as it was before sunup and chacked him out. There was NO sign of anything except deadness.
We are quite primitive here with the setup as my Dad, who is only up here 2 weeks a month, got chickens with little prep. We had a small (4' x4') coop that as they grew we updated (added roosts and laying boxes) to accomodate. But then we discovered that MOST of the chicks we'd gotten straight run(never do that again) are male and became aggresive. I moved the girls (3 of them) and the Americanas, who at that point were still "genderless" to a new area for safety. This has not proven perfect but, better for their well-being.
Of course, the coop is too heavy to move and I'm a single mom to a 10 y/o who works teaching ALL DAY and night. We haven't built a new coop but instead put 2 dog pens in and covered them with a tarp. This is Okay, so far - the girls are even laying in them and I've gotten 2 blue eggs and several brown. I feel Okey with this set up. For a roost, I took an old ladder and affixed a pan from a dog kennel upside down. I also hung their feeder from this. It keeps the food dry and would keep them dry if they'd use it. Instead, they roost on the fence, the top of the kennels, and the top of the ladder, on the pan. It had rained that night and I think that Brownie being so big, slipped off the pan and fell breaking his neck. I know that they are less active at night and figure he just couldn't catch himself when he slipped.
Could this be the case or can anyone give me other possibilities. ALL of the others are fine, noone seems ill or injured, as in from a fight. HELP!
We are quite primitive here with the setup as my Dad, who is only up here 2 weeks a month, got chickens with little prep. We had a small (4' x4') coop that as they grew we updated (added roosts and laying boxes) to accomodate. But then we discovered that MOST of the chicks we'd gotten straight run(never do that again) are male and became aggresive. I moved the girls (3 of them) and the Americanas, who at that point were still "genderless" to a new area for safety. This has not proven perfect but, better for their well-being.
Of course, the coop is too heavy to move and I'm a single mom to a 10 y/o who works teaching ALL DAY and night. We haven't built a new coop but instead put 2 dog pens in and covered them with a tarp. This is Okay, so far - the girls are even laying in them and I've gotten 2 blue eggs and several brown. I feel Okey with this set up. For a roost, I took an old ladder and affixed a pan from a dog kennel upside down. I also hung their feeder from this. It keeps the food dry and would keep them dry if they'd use it. Instead, they roost on the fence, the top of the kennels, and the top of the ladder, on the pan. It had rained that night and I think that Brownie being so big, slipped off the pan and fell breaking his neck. I know that they are less active at night and figure he just couldn't catch himself when he slipped.
Could this be the case or can anyone give me other possibilities. ALL of the others are fine, noone seems ill or injured, as in from a fight. HELP!
