New Chicken Mom

Date sort Score sort
AshleyI

AshleyI

In the Brooder
Jul 5, 2015
18
3
26
Fort Collins, CO
Hi all! Glad to be here. I acquired six little ladies four days ago and I' so stoked to start this new journey. They are 2 1/2 weeks old now and I have been letting in the backyard under supervision. I am confident in my coops ability to keep out predators. However, I did spy a cat tonight trying to get a peek at the girls. Tips or advice?? I'd hate to keep them cooped up (lol) until they are much larger but I don't know of any other options. I was expecting older chicks and so they, being much smaller than expected, can fit through the wire around the run. TIA!!
 
Welcome to BYC and the amazing world of chickens!

Cats can be a pain, and they can go after adult birds, however, the cat that attacked our flock only went after the weak birds and the chicks. And we've had a lot of cats before, this was the only one that attacked our chickens.
You could build a small, secure run for when you can't watch them, so they can get fresh-air, sunlight, and some bugs.

Best of luck with your new flock! Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
 
I think I greeted you on another post, but welcome (again) to BYC, AshleyI. Glad you decided to join our flock. If your chicks can slip through the wire around the run, there are plenty of predators that can slip though it as well such as rats, snakes, weasels, minks, etc. Also predators such as raccoons will reach through these openings and grab your chickens with their paws, pulling them against the fence and killing them. I would strongly advise putting hardware cloth over any openings that are bigger than 1/2 inch. Also you need to make sure that the top of the enclosure is covered with hardware cloth as well or predators will climb up your enclosure and enter from above. There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on predator proofing your chickens. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in protecting your chicks from predators.
 
You did! Sorry. I couldn't get the dang thing to post. I must have done it like four times. Anyway, the babies are all safe. I put hardware cloth EVERYWHERE. Thanks!!
 
welcome-byc.gif
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom