What was your worst mistake as a chicken keeper?

[Iluveggers]

Has ANYONE had a good experience getting chicks from TSC? I got a handful there last month, & so far, so good. One did have a terrible bout of pasty butt & weakness which I nursed her through but all are thriving now. At about 4 weeks I don’t see any red combs either. Maybe I just got lucky?

 

[MMEADOWS73]

1st time owners,we built off an existing structure in an area that flooded during heavy rain,even though we built up the ground,NEVER AGAIN. Fixed it by building a whole new coop and moving our girls onto dry land..nightmare over and happy laying girls

 

[rayrose]

Trusting EmmaLee at Eggwell Farms. I ordered 3 English
Black Orpington Pullets and 3 English Blue Orpington Pullets.
What I received was 3 English Black Orpington Cockerels and
only 2 Blues, one of which is a cockerel. No wonder she sold
the business almost immediately afterwards. So now I'm stuck
with paying for 4 cockerels and only getting one out 6 chicks that
I paid for. What a truly NICE person. Any one want some cockerels?

 

[the_peanut_coop]

Trusting EmmaLee at Eggwell Farms. I ordered 3 English
Black Orpington Pullets and 3 English Blue Orpington Pullets.
What I received was 3 English Black Orpington Cockerels and
only 2 Blues, one of which is a cockerel. No wonder she sold
the business almost immediately afterwards. So now I'm stuck
with paying for 4 cockerels and only getting one out 6 chicks that
I paid for. What a truly NICE person. Any one want some cockerels?

How very KIND of her

 

[PippinTheChicken]

How very KIND of her

I would track her down and put all the cockerels in her house lol

 

[the_peanut_coop]

I would track her down and put all the cockerels in her house lol

Yeah! Great Idea! @rayrose Give me her address and the cockerels and lets completely trash her house!!

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Yeah! Great Idea! @rayrose Give me her address and the cockerels and lets completely trash her house!!

Let's goooo! I'm packing my bag. Peanut I'll meet you there!

 

[Araucana Nest]

I also used a chain link dog run because I can’t build. But I did cover the entire thing with 1/2 inch hardware cloth. Makes for a very strong base for that HC.

I did that about 15 years ago when I was raising pheasants and it gave me tendinitis/tendinosis that I still struggle with. Can't imagine doing that again, especially to 11 cages.

 

[Heartsopenwide]

View attachment 2809406

We learn from our mistakes, right? Even pros and experts make mistakes.
I was wondering what your biggest mistakes were as chicken keepers.
Maybe newbies could find this thread and learn from it.

1. What did you do?
2. What were the consequences?
3. Did you fix it? How?
4. What did you learn?

Please remember, we all make mistakes. Please do not belittle or bully ANYONE for their mistakes.

1. Let a mama hen hatch some eggs inside the coop with everyone else.

2. The other hens attacked and killed one of the babies.

3. I put the mama hen and remaining baby in their own coop.

4. Not to trust non parental hens with hatchlings, and to give hens sitting on eggs their own space.

 

[Silkie Princess]

Mistake: not closing chickens at night
Random fox had a feast
( this happened a year ago. Now I have a flocks that are ALWAYS closed at night)