What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[Kota Mitera]

You really made me laugh. My Mom had pet bantams on her farm waaay back when and the story has always been that they were so spoiled they didn't know enough to come in from the rain. She would have to go out in the rain and take them to the coop.
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[Kota Mitera]

Thank you for the comment. We live in a hunting community and everyone keeps saying "they are birds ... what about the wild birds??? Chickens have instincts, they will be fine." If that is true, then why do we build coops? I do want them to free range, but they "don't have enough sense to come in out of the rain " But I love them.

 

[paintedChix]

thanks to Cathy Here is my post sans Zeros....
My addition to this is Guinea Fowl. the chicks are called Keets. In case someone didn't know. had a job in town about enough time to raise up some guineas and take em home......

and betcha' still learnin', hmm? (sometimes I really like these emojis... bad thing my kids & grand kids got me started on them...

 

[paintedChix]

Going out and leaving my sweet chihuahua to watch the babies. Yikes!!! Sad and stupid, I only had to massacred.

Yep, our 12# pom is more dangerous to the chicks than the 50-80# pitXs and others.



Our cats will chase off the wild birds & squirrels - or eat them while laying next to the flock . Wish I'd gotten pics of the 2nd part just 1 month ago - but here's one of the cats' w/ the flock at previous property...

 

[paintedChix]

Careful what you wish for with broodies!

Broodiness is contagious. I lost count of how many I had sitting at one time last spring, and it ripples and continued all summer.....into fall. I still have one hen sitting.

Of course, I don't want just "broodiness" to have to break. I want the whole "henny" action of raising the chix! LOL

This thread is making me laugh - a good thing as I gird up to go check birds again in this wet, wintry <freezing> mix. This time will be bringing birds in to dry with hair dryer. Then let them warm up while I go out and cover the "ventilation" with feed bags so that they stay dry tonight when temps dip into 20s. LOVE my CP & pallet coops BUT didn't have enough of it covered for protection for birds before this storm hit...

Before I go out, have to drop the last freezer bird into the crock pot. By the time I'm done with the "new" chicky chores, I will have a chicken dinner! Then stock made overnight. And if the pretty Ameraucana roo is still attacking the other birds in the flock (not breeding, attacking) - won't wait - he'll come in too, to take the place of the last freezer bird. My day is full, time to get off of here...

quite reading... quit laughing... quit nodding, yea been there...

 

[lilmillefleur]

1. Being ignorant and stupid when my chickens were dying. Or just stupid in general. We bought a single, 3 day old bantam with pasty butt and a leg deformity...and put it with 10 5 week old chicks. Also we didn't pay attention when Snow White was so obviously eggbound. And we sent a neighbor's hen back to her insecure coop after we had cared for her lovingly from after a fox attack. We very well knew that a fisher cat had gotten into their coop the night before and killed two birds.
Unsurprisingly, none of these situations ended well at all.

2. Trusting sellers who gave our chickens bad lice, scaly leg mites, marek's, MG etc. and not quarantining. Currently have a 9yo silkie who is suffering from an awful respiratory disease. Her nostrils are swollen and her eyes are watery and full of disgusting crap. It breaks my heart to see her like that. Sometimes I wish I could cull them all and start over and do it right. But we have gone much too far and everyone's attached. :,(

3. Keeping chickens (I know what you are thinking! I can explain!). I have 2 houses. The chickens are at the weekend/vacation house (What!? Why are you looking at me like that??). This makes it so so SO much harder to take care of the birds. Many awful things have happened because we couldn't be there to help to the best of our abilities.

It doesn't help that I'm not the boss. What I say, and what I know is best, isn't always what happens.

 

[Kris5902]

It is in fact a very good idea, not just to keep clean but the chickens will recognize you.
They don't change their feathers and people constantly changing their appearance makes them nervous.

Works with cows and sheep as well! Gradual changes, and even one clearly recognizable piece of clothing does wonders for keeping them at ease.

 

[Oakhammockchick]

Using wood chips instead of hay. Leaving a jameson on the rocks out then hoping for hours the rooster dosen't have alcohol poisioning. Thinking running out to the coop in heels is actually a possible thing "it isnt".

Heels? Sure.....that is what plastic grocery bags are for.

 

[Oakhammockchick]

Why do you not like using wood chips?


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See that beautiful too-tiny coop and perfect landscaped yard? Not for long!!!!
I don't have a pic of the free ranging aftermath - I was way too ashamed. But that little coop got moved to an unused part of the yard...
View attachment 1611257 Behind bars!!!
Then we got motion detector lights, which kept the chickens awake and outside way past dark, so they took to roosting on the fence (since it got too dark to see inside the coop). I forgot to pull them off and lock up a couple times, and an unknown predator took one right off the fence! So we got rid of the motion lights and implemented a much more diligent locking up schedule.

Unfortunately, many of the mistakes we all make are somewhat (dare I say) necessary to learn what actually works the best in our given situation. Some mistakes are very hard lessons with heartbreaking consequences, but if we pay attention, we can keep them from happening again. I also think that no matter how much you learn or how much you prepare, it may be unrealistic to expect a mistake to never happen.

We have motion lights but they shine AWAY from the coop and right into our bedroom window. If something walks by the coop at night, the light shines on them and us but not on the flock. We also recently got a remote thermometer and put it in the coop. We can read the temperature display from the house. We also got chicks before the coop was ready. It was there from previous homeowner. We didn't realize it needed so much work so the chicks lived in the bath tub for 2 days. It was an older chicken wired area. Who would think chicken wire wasn't really for chickens? It is now hardware cloth. We are still learning.

 

[m1chelle1]

Thinking young children and roosters don't mix under any circumstances, therefore, I must eliminate accidental cockerels. Turns out, this is completely false. Not all are the devil.

Wonderful thread idea, by the way! Can't wait for responses to come.

~Alex

amen! ive always had such friendly boys with personalities!!