New 2 Chicks

[DaynaS]

Hi everyone! I am a new chicken owner. My husband and I had been talking about a year about getting chickens so we would know where our eggs were coming from and we already live on a farm so just seemed like something fun to add to our home. We have 2 children, 9 and 4. We were not quite ready to take on this adventure when someone abruptly gave us 4 RI Reds that were wondering town and could not find the owner to claim them. We've had them about 3 months now. One of them had just begun laying and laid 9 eggs consecutively and then somehow got out of the pen and our dog killed her. We were very upset to lose one. She was apparently our laying chick because we have had no more eggs. : ( We are getting ready to buy some more younger chickens and looking into more Reds and maybe some Leghorns. Looking forward to learning as I go.

 

[drumstick diva]

Sorry you lost your only hen. Unfortunately dogs + chickens, usually = dead chickens. It's best if they are kept far apart. If that means you have 3 roosters remaining, not good. A rooster can handle 10 hens each. To keep them in line you would need 30 hens, or rehome 2 of the roosters.

Introducing new birds properly to established ones to prevent blood shed, is important. One of the best methods to follow is the "look but, don.t touch.) Other responders coming on will probably elaborate on that or you can put that in the search box and read what comes up.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!