What is the average loss count?

[Josh and hen]

I have had 17 chickens and 5 have died, some of these deaths are not my fault but i still take it as a loss because of me.
i lost one chicken because the hen stopped being broody and stopped sitting on the egg (I don't have an incubator) and ive lost three because of vultures and owls would literally pull them from the chicken wire and one i just lost last night, my guess is that it died from the cold. Im bringing back my baby chicks inside for 3 more weeks. What im mainly asking is if 5 deaths out of 17 chickens all together is a lot and if it is does that mean i should give it my all when it come to chickens? P.S these are the first chickens i've ever had

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I have had 17 chickens and 5 have died, some of these deaths are not my fault but i still take it as a loss because of me.
i lost one chicken because the hen stopped being broody and stopped sitting on the egg (I don't have an incubator) and ive lost three because of vultures and owls would literally pull them from the chicken wire and one i just lost last night, my guess is that it died from the cold. Im bringing back my baby chicks inside for 3 more weeks. What im mainly asking is if 5 deaths out of 17 chickens all together is a lot and if it is does that mean i should give it my all when it come to chickens? P.S these are the first chickens i've ever had

Sorry about your losses.

The losses to predators are preventable - you will need to address the weaknesses in your security that made it possible for the birds to be taken - poultry netting/chicken wire is only good for keeping your birds in, not for keeping anything out/from getting to them, so you will want/need to beef up the enclosure as the predators will consider your enclosure an "all -you-can-eat buffet" until they have taken ever last one of your birds now that they know they can get them.

Was your most recent loss a chick or adult bird (the one that you believe died due to cold)? I ask because a healthy, feathered bird (5+ weeks of age) or a younger chick in the care of a broody hen is not really likely to die simply because of temperatures, but more likely due to other causes or cold because of underlying health issues.

Whether one considered 5/17 to be a high rate of loss depends on how one looks at the causes of your losses - given that at least three are due to a cause that is easily fixed, future losses for that same reason can be avoided and would go more under the category of "lesson learned", imo, than anything else. As a new chicken keeper there will be many lessons learned ahead - hopefully not all of them costing you flock members.

As for "giving it your all" - you should give it your all to learn as much as possible (which asking questions like you have is a great way to do that) and take the steps necessary to take corrective measures if/when issues arise that show you where things are not all they could be in regards to providing for the safety or health of your flock. I believe that each of us has the responsibility to "give it our all" in that respect for any species we choose to take on.

 

[DRGLENNON]

I have had 17 chickens and 5 have died, some of these deaths are not my fault but i still take it as a loss because of me.
i lost one chicken because the hen stopped being broody and stopped sitting on the egg (I don't have an incubator) and ive lost three because of vultures and owls would literally pull them from the chicken wire and one i just lost last night, my guess is that it died from the cold. Im bringing back my baby chicks inside for 3 more weeks. What im mainly asking is if 5 deaths out of 17 chickens all together is a lot and if it is does that mean i should give it my all when it come to chickens? P.S these are the first chickens i've ever had

Hi Josh, I'm sry you have had some losses but it is part of raising chickens. When we first started spring of last year we lost 2 silkies to a raccoon. It reached right through the fence. We had a very large owl lurking about a several hawks patrolling. Just keep at eye out for problem areas in your enclosure. We ran wire underground too, for digging animals. I do free range some daily if you do make sure there are places your chickens can take cover if they feel threated.

As far as the broody she may have since a problem with the eggs. Who knows, but not every egg will be a chick. Enjoy your flock! I am, it's been a fun and educational hobby.

What breeds do you have?
I almost forgot!

 

[aatx]

In May, I received 28 bantam chicks in the mail. I lost 11 of them within the first two weeks. That's almost 40%. Some of the deaths might have been preventable by a more seasoned "chicken farmer", but I'm not really sure. Some I know were related to shipping stress and failure to thrive. In one breed, I had 5 out of 7 die. Perhaps there were problems with the parents. I did everything I could for them. Since that 2 week mark, I haven't had a single death. (Mine are 25 weeks old now.) This leads me to believe I just had a case of bad luck.

Not all eggs will hatch under a broody. If you are saying the first one died before hatching, I would not even count that one.

Use the three deaths to predators as a learning experience. That is the area you can improve on.

Were there any symptoms with this last death? Sometimes young chicks just die and you'll never figure out why. They have threads on here called Sudden Chick Death that describe this happening. If you will tell us how old your chicks are, we might be better able to figure out what caused the death of the last chick and if there is anything that could be done to help prevent it happening to another one or if this was just one of those unexplained deaths that you can't prevent.

 

[Josh and hen]

Sorry about your losses.

The losses to predators are preventable - you will need to address the weaknesses in your security that made it possible for the birds to be taken - poultry netting/chicken wire is only good for keeping your birds in, not for keeping anything out/from getting to them, so you will want/need to beef up the enclosure as the predators will consider your enclosure an "all -you-can-eat buffet" until they have taken ever last one of your birds now that they know they can get them.

Was your most recent loss a chick or adult bird (the one that you believe died due to cold)? I ask because a healthy, feathered bird (5+ weeks of age) or a younger chick in the care of a broody hen is not really likely to die simply because of temperatures, but more likely due to other causes or cold because of underlying health issues.

Whether one considered 5/17 to be a high rate of loss depends on how one looks at the causes of your losses - given that at least three are due to a cause that is easily fixed, future losses for that same reason can be avoided and would go more under the category of "lesson learned", imo, than anything else. As a new chicken keeper there will be many lessons learned ahead - hopefully not all of them costing you flock members.

As for "giving it your all" - you should give it your all to learn as much as possible (which asking questions like you have is a great way to do that) and take the steps necessary to take corrective measures if/when issues arise that show you where things are not all they could be in regards to providing for the safety or health of your flock. I believe that each of us has the responsibility to "give it our all" in that respect for any species we choose to take on.

Alright thank you, and it was a baby chick about 3-4 weeks old and i didn't sense anything else wrong with the chick so i figured it was to cold last night

 

[Josh and hen]

In May, I received 28 bantam chicks in the mail. I lost 11 of them within the first two weeks. That's almost 40%. Some of the deaths might have been preventable by a more seasoned "chicken farmer", but I'm not really sure. Some I know were related to shipping stress and failure to thrive. In one breed, I had 5 out of 7 die. Perhaps there were problems with the parents. I did everything I could for them. Since that 2 week mark, I haven't had a single death. (Mine are 25 weeks old now.) This leads me to believe I just had a case of bad luck.
Not all eggs will hatch under a broody. If you are saying the first one died before hatching, I would not even count that one.

Use the three deaths to predators as a learning experience. That is the area you can improve on.

Were there any symptoms with this last death? Sometimes young chicks just die and you'll never figure out why. They have threads on here called Sudden Chick Death that describe this happening. If you will tell us how old your chicks are, we might be better able to figure out what caused the death of the last chick and if there is anything that could be done to help prevent it happening to another one or if this was just one of those unexplained deaths that you can't prevent.

Okay well thanks for the story that makes me feel better knowing im not the only one (even though i knew i wasn't the only one) but okay i will make sure i fix these weak points

 

[CliffB]

I started with 9, lost 1 to my dog, replaced the 1 with 1 more, then i lost 1 to being trampled by the other chicks, then i bought 4 more and i have lost 2 to natural causes. So out of 14 i have lost 4.