New member from Northwest Florida

[Lamanite Jim]

We bought a house and it came with 12 chickens. I have a lot to learn. One of the first things I did was to build the girls a nice new coop and fenced in the orchard for them to run in (nearly an acre). I have to get rid of some predators. I was on a business trip for 3 days. My youngest son didn't get the girls secured for the night. I lost 10 hens! I set a trap tonight for the culprit. Tomorrow I will be replacing my Leghorns with 10 RIR. Happy times ahead I am sure.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are help.

I'm so sorry for your losses! That is horrible!

Hope you can find some great replacements and hope you have great chicken experiences in the future!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry for your losses, hope you are able to catch the predator. Good luck with the new hens.

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join us. Sorry about the loss of your hens. I hope you catch the culprit tonight. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck in catching your predator.

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm sorry about your loss, I imagine your young son is feeling badly also.

 

[CHICKLOVER69]

WELCOME. I"M PRETTY NEW MYSELF. READ A LOT ABOUT SNAKES AND VARMENTS BEFORE FINALIZING MY COOP AND RUN. STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BUILDING THE COOP, BUT GETTING CLOSE TO FINISHED. I MADE A 8X16 ENCLOSED RUN WITH HARDWARE CLOTH. THE COOP IS 4X8 WHICH SHOULD BE BIG ENOUGH,I ONLY HAVE 9 PULLETS. THEY ARE ABOUT 3 WEEKS OLD NOW AND HOPE TO HAVE THE COOP READY IN A WEEK OR TWO. WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THEM FREE RANGE, BUT THE THOUGHT OF LOOSING ONE OF THE WIFE'S BABIES TO A PREDATOR, WELL LETS JUST SAY I WOULD BE ON THE COUCH. NOTHINGS PERFECT, BUT THINK I HAVE IT PREDATOR PROOF. TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY ANY WAY. LOTS OF GOOD INFO IN THE PREDATOR FORUM. IF FREE RANGING, YOU COULD GET AN AUTOMATIC DOOR THAT CLOSES AT SUNDOWN AND OPENS AT SUNRISE. WELCOME AGAIN AND SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. THIS IS MY FIRST SHOT AT CHICKENS TOO. HOPE I GET IT RIGHT.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

Glad you joined us! So sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you catch the culprit!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Oh, I am so sorry for your losses.

That is just awful! I hope you can resolve this predator problem soon.

 

[ronmauldin]

Welcome from the Ocean State!

 

[Lamanite Jim]

I re-built my flock with RIRs, EEs, Barred Rocks and an Americaunas rooster. The flock now numbers 15. I finally hooked up the timer on the henhouse door. The girls are pretty good about getting to bed before dark. "Patch", the rooster, has his hands full learning his new duties and rounding up the hens. They are fun to watch. They are all about the same age (10 - 12 months old). We've started getting some beautiful brown and blue eggs. I have two Leghorn survivors from my original flock but they stopped laying. This is probably from trauma caused by the predator attack that killed 8 of their sisters. Assuming I can control predators, I look forward to many happy years with my new flock. Next...turkeys. I hope to build a coop & run for 1/2 dozen 'big birds' this fall. I will post an update as soon as I get them.