OMG What a nightmare!!!!

[Carenm]

We just got our first baby chicks and I am so devastated. We lost one already!!!! Major disaster happened. We had their brooder on a very stable shelf that was plenty wide and so we thought out of the way of the cats. My son was getting bathed and I heard a crash and the cries of baby chicks. In all the commotion one baby chick got trampled on. Me and my daughter have been in tears.


I don't know where to keep the brooder so the cats don't get to it again!!! We don't have a garage so for now we put them in the master bath and have the door closed.

I never would have imagined in just an hour of being chick parents disaster would happen.

We had 6 chicks, now down to 5. I am so shaken and sad.

Not a good 1st day experience!!! maybe we should give our chicks to someone better suited to handle them. This has been a dream of ours for over 6 months now and now we are just devastated.

:

 

[Kittymomma]

It happens, sometimes the learning curve just bites. The bathroom is a good spot, lots of people on here brood chicks in the bathroom--easy to regulate temps, and access. It's always a challenge with cats, mine don't bother the grown chickens at all, but they'd have a chicky chick snack given the opportunity.

 

[newchik715]

oh, accidents happen. don't beat yourself up. it is very sad but now you need to focus on your five babies. keep them away from the cats. we have ours in a seperate room and close the door all day and night. i opened the door the other day and a chick was roosting on the edge of the brooder. my cat came out of nowhere and almost had dinner but i got to the bird first! darn cats! sorry for your loss.

 

[sutillman]

Don't give up yet. Things happen all the time with chickens, young and old. It' really hard when you've had one a long time and they die. You get very attached to them like any other pet. But you have to expect that things do go wrong by no fault of your own.

 

[Southernbelle]

It's happened to all of us, believe me!!!!!! I've lost or injured birds through my own mistakes before. It feels terrible, but everyone has done it and the best you can do is learn from the experience. I think putting them in the bathroom away from the cats is a great idea and you'll do great with them!

 

[chixie]

I am sorry. things happen like this and all you can do is try to learn from it. My chicks are in my bedroom on my dresser. I have 2 cats but they won't come in my bedroom because my dogs won't let them... A bathroom is a great place to brood babies. hugs to you and your daughter

 

[Karrie13]

It was an accident, don't beat yourself up over it.

It happened to me when I first got my chicks last year too. My daughter didn't close the door all the way and my DH's dog killed 7 out of 13. I was very mad and upset but used it as a learning experience. I now have a different brooder setup that only I can get into it and the little mean ugly dog can not get anywhere near the chicks. I have one house cat and two outside cats but the house cat doesn't seem to bother the chicks but the outside cat's would not be so polite (of course the outside cat's stay far away from the grown girls).

Don't give up.

 

[Carenm]

Thank you all.

What a learning experience. We are still shocked and saddened and hope the others are ok from their fall. They are walking around their brooder, seem ok. Eating and drinking. Will let them have some quiet time for a while and let them recover from their scare.

 

[jettgirl24]

I have a cat and chickies too and Iw as worried about a similar thing happening. She's actually shown very little interest in them unless they're out of their box, so I've been lucky that way. That being said I'm certainly not going to chance it so I have done three things:

First, I made a super cat proof brooder out of a rubbermaid container with locking top (the kind that snaps on AND has handles that clip over the top of each end). I found the directions online but didn't save the site address... Sorry

Anyway, the wire fencing material is actually bolted on the top with the bolts spaced about 3 inches apart. It was super easy, made it in an hour or less, and probably cost me $20 tops. I highly doubt there is a way for her to get in there unless she grows some thumbs!

Second, since the brooder is so secure I'm keeping it on the floor. That way if she did get interested in them she couldn't knock it off a shelf/table/etc and hurt the babies that way

Third, they are locked in a bedroom and the only time the cat is allowed in there is if I'm sitting right there. This has bummed her out because her favorite sleeping spot is in that closet, but she can have it back in a few weeks when the babies go outside

I'm so sorry for your loss, but don't blame yourself. We do everything we can to protect them but sometimes things happen. Sounds like you've found a good solution for now and I'm sure your other babies will be just fine. You obviously care alot about them and are working hard to protect them!

 

[lizzy06019]

Oh I'm so sorry this happened to you! I'm a new chick momma too and I know how worried we get making sure everything is just perfect and all the chicks are healthy and happy. Don't beat yourself up over this. You had only good intentions. The fact that you are so upset about it means you're a wonderful mommy to those chicks. If you didn't care, we'd all have to wonder. I hope you and your family feel better soon. Again, I'm sorry for your loss!