Hey guys... so I've been having terrible luck trying to raise my babies this summer. In June I got an order of 3 chicks from MPC - those were all the chicks that I wanted, and I got a cuckoo marans pullet, a partridge cochin pullet, and a salmon faverolles pullet. Unfortunately, the faverolles chick died, and MPC said they'd give me another for free, so I ordered 3 more salmon faverolles. Then, my family decided we wanted to have a blue egg, so I went and bought an ameraucana pullet and a polish/silkie cross pullet just for fun. A few weeks ago, the chicks were all getting their play time in the outdoor pen of the coop, and when I went out to check on them, one of the faverolles chicks was dead. It looked like something that lived under the coop had grabbed her by the head and tried to drag her underneath, because I had to use a shovel to dig her out because she was so wedged under there. So I filled the hole with steel wool and nailed a 2x4 over it to try and prevent that from happening again. Then about a week later the two older chicks, the marans and the cochin, seemed ready to live out in the coop so we moved them there. Things were going well and they were getting along with the 3 old hens until one day when they were free ranging the neighbors cat came over and ripped them to shreds. I was devastated by that and almost decided to just give away the 4 remaining chicks because I feel like such a failure at raising them, but I decided to keep them instead. Now that those chicks are maturing, it's starting to look like only 1 of the 4 remaining is a pullet, as the others are growing big red combs and look like they have rooster tail feathers coming in. I'm so depressed about this... I can't keep 3 roosters and I feel so defeated by this whole process. I've raised chicks a few times before this and have never had such bad luck, and I'm so upset that out of all those chicks that I started out with I'm only going to end up with one.
I am so sorry to hear about all your bad luck and the loss of your chickies. Instead of totally giving up, you shoud just rethink how you are raising your chickens. Maybe you should stop free ranging your chickens. Instead , build a large run or if you already have a run, make it larger. I know watching your chickens free range is part of the enjoyment of having them but at what cost? I think everyone on here is always learning from their mistakes as well as others mistakes. I am a newbie on here and I learn something new everytime I log on. You are just upset right now because of your losses....which I understand. I lost 2 of my baby chicks the second week I got them. My dogs got them. Of the 11 chickens I bought, 3 have turned out to be roosters. I didn't want any but now I love to hear the little guys crow. Don't give up! Do your grieving and then start again. Remember, bad things do happen to good people. You sound like a good person. Don't let this bad experience stop you from doing what you love.....CHICKENS!
aww im so sorry! but it makes you feel better, when i met my favorite author who has raised poultry i told her about my chickens and she said that my flock was destined for death!!!!
