What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[townchicks]

I've been wondering if it would be a good idea to build a small flock 2 at a time for a few years. I have four hens now which is a good number for my little household but I've been thinking: eventually they will all stop laying and I will just have a retirement home for four hens.

That's similar to my plan, right now I have 3 hens, that will be 3years this spring. Our town has a 5 hen limit, so I'm waiting to add a couple more when my girls slow down on laying. I know eventually, I'll just be running a retirement home, but that's OK, they're pets for me, the eggs are just a wonderful bonus. Integration is my biggest worry, but things went smoothly when I added my 3rd hen, because I gave them plenty of time. Hoping that works as well next time. I'll not be adding chicks though, because I need to be sure I don't get a roo by mistake.

 

[jp0318]

leaving baby chicks unattended outside in a cardboard box. A dog came and killed them. Also joining smaller chickens with bigger chickens

 

[DaWookie]

if you have trouble getting your chickens into their coop at dusk, wait until dark and collect them with a headlight. Dont be like me running around with a robe to snare chickens an hour before dark.

 

[Kris5902]

if you have trouble getting your chickens into their coop at dusk, wait until dark and collect them with a headlight. Dont be like me running around with a robe to snare chickens an hour before dark.

Keeps your neighbors entertained though! LOL

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

My biggest mistake was not investing (or building) a large, sturdy coop and run. We started with one of those tiny, flimsy, prefab coops-in-a-box (like the kind you see at TSC or sometimes warehouse stores like Costco) and quickly realized it would not last long for our three LF birds. Purchase (or build) the highest quality and largest coop and run possible from the get-go!

 

[Mosey2003]

My deepest regret is not putting my foot down when my dad decided how my coop should be built. Now I'm stuck with a coop that I despise and I can't get rid of it without hurting his feelings, and it's built in such a way that I really can't even modify it either.

 

[paneubert]

I also had a fire with a heat lamp. Burnt a hole in the floor of my shed, by some miracle the fire put itself out before it found the gas can and plenty of other flammable items. After that I suspended the heat lamp by a chain hanging from the ceiling of the shed. No problems after that.

My problem was that while I was super safe with suspending my lamp/preventing it from falling while in use, I was my own worst enemy when I took it down for a couple days.....

I was using an infrared/ceramic heater bulb in one of those black reptile fixtures that can handle a heat bulb. No light is given off by this.....just heat. That is the key to remember here.

So I took it off my brooder and apparently forgot to turn it off/unplug it. Set it down on an old rug we have in the garage. You know, the kinds of nasty old rug that is there to catch water/oil drips from your car.

Smelled something weird A FEW DAYS LATER and discovered a perfectly scorched circle of rug under the fixture. Good thing my floor is concrete and the rug somehow did not decide to burst into flames....... Now the circle mocks me every time I go in the garage.

 

[Eggscaping]

Wow, the answers on 'what mistakes did you make' are SO, SO helpful and VERY interesting! I've laughed so much and learned a lot already...both of us have! And thank all of you who welcomed me and are so encouraging. Glad we joined!

 

[AlleysChicks]

My worse mistakes:

1.) deciding on 6 (which is the minimum to buy) and then listening to someone that recommended more because of some dying. All 10 lived btw.

2.) settling on breeds I didn’t want because of availability.

3.) impulse buying when not prepared to house chickens. I had to buy everything except a lamp.

4.) getting overwhelmed on everything that can go wrong.

5.) wasn’t even a year in when I bought a incubator and started in on that mistake. Hatching is addicting lol

 

[blackandtan]

My worst mistake was a near miss: my other half had a sawmill one winter and frugal me thought “look at all that great FREE bedding!” For a couple weeks it worked, the chooks were delighted because it was soft and warm, and under the heat lamp they would dust bathe and have a party. But I have ducks too. And ducks root thru bedding to nibble up food. After almost two weeks I realized how skinny they were, it hit me that they were stuffing themselves with the sawdust thinking it was food! Did a total coop clean in January and refilled with proper shavings, and fed the duckies grain mash and cooked veg for a week till they plumped up again...lesson learned!