What was your worst mistake as a chicken keeper?

[KristinJ8307]

There are many. But I'll start with this.

1. Many, many years ago I bathed a hen that was covered in mites.
2. She died.
3. It could not be fixed.
4. I learned that bathing a sickly chicken could kill it.

Why is this?

 

[KristinJ8307]

1. What did you do
We didn't start building a chicken coop before we got our first chickens. Chickens were a planned impulse buy for us last year. Planned because we bought our house with the intention of having chickens someday. Impulse because covid made us finally decide to get them. We had ideas and plans, but then changed them once we actually had our chickens.

2. What were the consequences
Our chicks were in the house WAY too long We loved being able to interact with them for hours and they are now all very friendly, but SO much "dust".

3.Did you fix it? How.
We eventually finished the coop after set backs due to weather and mistakes in the plans we bought - we should have followed our instincts instead of just using the measurements on the plans. We also fortunately used a room that we were planning to strip and remodel anyway. Did I mention all the "dust"?

4. What did you learn.
Start your coop before getting chickens - only partially learned. We started to build a bigger coop this year(chicken math), but stopped due to the crazy wood prices. We ended up moving a shed instead. This years additional chickens were only inside a little longer than we wanted
Learned successfully- take everything non essential out of the room before adding chicks.

Made the same mistake. To make matters worse, we had 2 ducks and 3 meat chickens all of which got wayyyy too big wayyyy too fast. Had to work on the coop after work at our regular jobs every night for hours for a couple weeks. Exhausting but was a good start to summer break for the kids, had school. Been in session it wouldnt have been possible. Also, we re-purposed pallets - never realized how time consuming or how much work it was to repurpose pallets!!!

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Why is this?

What do you mean? Are you asking why bathing a sick chicken will kill it?
I think it's the stress but idk

 

[casportpony]

Why is this?

I'm gonna guess it's because they are sick and already a little hypothermic and the bathing cools them off more and sends them over the edge.

Bottom line, sick birds should never be bathed. Sick birds need to be kept in a warm room and have their hydration level corrected first.

If you have a sick one with mites or lice, use a permethrin powder, do not use a spray.

 

[Hermits Garden]

I'm not yet a chicken keeper, but I've studied hard, and learned a lot from BYC. I have recently made a mistake, however. I paid for a book, hoping to learn more about a certain breed of chicken, only to discover there was NOTHING in the "book" I didn't already know from cursory initial research.

No huge consequence, except being out the money and another ding in my trust.

Can't fix it.

Learned: just because someone gets good reviews on a "book" on Ebay, don't buy it without really exploring this book. And don't take the BYC reviewers' word for it--I wonder if they actually bought the thing. Those reviews are based on "like new" and "fast shipping."

Sorry for the rant.

 

[casportpony]

I'm not yet a chicken keeper, but I've studied hard, and learned a lot from BYC. I have recently made a mistake, however. I paid for a book, hoping to learn more about a certain breed of chicken, only to discover there was NOTHING in the "book" I didn't already know from cursory initial research.

No huge consequence, except being out the money and another ding in my trust.

Can't fix it.

Learned: just because someone gets good reviews on a "book" on Ebay, don't buy it without really exploring this book. And don't take the BYC reviewers' word for it--I wonder if they actually bought the thing. Those reviews are based on "like new" and "fast shipping."

Sorry for the rant.

What book was it?

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Not knowing much about chickens before buying them.

All but 1 died from my first flock, mostly genetic /overly interbred reasons I think. The lone survivor was an old hen.
The lady I bought them from was a breeder but she had way too many chickens cooped up in unsanitary conditions. One had a terrible mite infestation and later died from that before I knew what the problem was

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

I'm gonna guess it's because they are sick and already a little hypothermic and the bathing cools them off more and sends them over the edge.

Bottom line, sick birds should never be bathed. Sick birds need to be kept in a warm room and have their hydration level corrected first.

If you have a sick one with mites or lice, use a permethrin powder, do not use a spray.

I bathed one of mine, the next day it was so sick and later died even after I tried syringe feeding for a few days. I guess she may have been sick before I bathed her then I made it worse with the bathing I did blow dry her after the warm bath though and she seems to enjoy it.

 

[danielle2003]

1. What did you do? Actually, it's what I DIDN'T do: There were a lot of spiders and webs in the nesting area, and I wasn't paying attention at how many there were. I forgot to kill the spiders and sweep away their webs.
2. What were the consequences? My favorite Buff Orpington hen, Rose was bitten by a Black Widow during the night and died the next morning.
3. Did you fix it? How? Sadly, I was too late. Early the next morning, she was laying on the ground, floppy and gasping. I tried to give her some silver, but she wouldn't swallow. Then she started to convulse, and a few moments later, she died.
4. What did you learn? (1) Check for spiders often (2) Give your hen Benadryl if she is bitten by a spider (one of my Australorps acted the same way as Rose, but not as bad. I caught her in time and I gave her Benadryl. Thankfully, she pulled through!

 

[Cryss]

Getting more chickens before I was ready for them, not predator-proofing my coop enough, and not starting a rooster-only flock sooner.

Why a rooster only flock? What is the benefit of a flock of roosters? I ask because I love my rooster but he gave me 5 more that are going to crow any day. I don’t mind the crowing. I just don’t want the fighting that I am anticipating.