What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[HuffleClaw]

Really.....not knowing that my rooster wiggles on my lap could leave a wet spot
I felt so dirty and violated.
Things went down a little differently when he’d mount the top of my shoe

Sadly, come to find out, it wasn’t pee (I did 0 research when I first got chickens). Nope. Definitely not. And then the whole tibiting thing, let’s not even go that far

 

[Hermit]

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

I have the opposite issue… my chi-mix adopted them as his puppies when they were day olds, and always watched over them.
Now that they’re so much bigger than him... two of the hens chase him all over the property and try to bite him on the… um.
The Roos are fond of aiming for the same spot on his big brother, a black lab/shepherd mix, even though they have to jump UP to attack.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Never let mine in my lap no do not think they have ever tried

 

[MissChick@dee]

Sadly, come to find out, it wasn’t pee (I did 0 research when I first got chickens). Nope. Definitely not. And then the whole tibiting thing, let’s not even go that far

Nope...chickens don’t pee. Well okay they cover their feces with Uric acid (the white part of poo) but they definitely don’t tinkle!

 

[Hermit]

I might open a real can of worms with this one, and believe me, that is NOT my intent! We each have our own ways of doing things, some of them from learning on sites like this one and some by trial and error. We do what we think is best for our setups, our locations, and our own personal comfort zones. If there was only one “right” way to raise these feathered yard-poopers, this entire web site could be read in half an hour! So while what I do is what has worked extremely well for me, it is not intended to tell anyone else to change their keeping methods. There. Disclaimer clearly (I hope) stated.

I guess aside from ordering entirely too early in the year, my other personal big boo-boo was relying on books and experts. Sorry, books and experts. But a broody doesn’t heat the entire space she and her chicks are in. She doesn’t have night lights under her wings and she doesn’t let them run all over the place after bedtime, eating all night long. She doesn’t wait until they are 7-8 weeks old, or even older, and then put them through integration. She lets them eat whatever she finds - dirt, germs, seeds, bugs and all. She lets them drink out of mud puddles or water collected on sidewalks, with no additives. She provides them a warm, dark place to hide if she warns them about something or if they get spooked. They run all over their environment, on dirt, exploring and learning how to be chickens, and they regulate their own comfort level by ducking under her for a quick warmup, then they’re back out in the chilly air again.

All of that made me wonder......If a two pound hen can do it without all of the “help”, why do we do it so differently and think we’re doing it better? So I put away the books and pulled out my common sense. I duplicate the real experts as closely as possible. And suddenly I’m not stressed, the chicks are calm and confident, and we’re all happy.

Okay, I’ll go away now.

I lost SO MANY when I was trying to raise under my grandpa’s tutelage. He was a duck whisperer. His motto with chickens in particular was “if you want five, buy at least ten. You might get five to laying age.” When it came to ducks from the feed store…? Seven, if you wanted five.
After two years of trying (and failing) and trying …and failing, I had buried or lost approximately twenty-five chicks/pullets, raised one known survivor as an indoor pet, and eventually found one unknown survivor who saw the writing on the wall and went AWOL to raise HERSELF for a YEAR in the neighborhood from very young pullet age!

He’s long since gone, and I’m moving out to his property, where my aunt and uncle have been trying to repair things to the level he once had them.
…I went by his motto, but used MHHP, took the babies outside every time there was daylight in a teeny little coop/run (with no floor on the run) so they could dust bathe in the yard and scratch in the dirt.

Out of seventeen chicks (an over-buy to insure against ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY of losses, since these are the sticks and I have personally heard vixen screams, counted redtails on my way in from the city, laid eyes on coyote/coon/possum roadkills, dealt with us trying to kill off the extensive rodent population, etc) we now have…

SIXTEEN HEALTHY GIANT DINOSAURS.

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Not putting a stable roost in the coop. (It fell but no one got hurt )

 

[Hermit]

These were not battery hens. They were previously owned by a fellow allotment holder on my site, who neglected them. When I took them on they didn't have much body fat and were a real sight to look at. And they were only with me for a matter of a few weeks. But they looked a lot better by the time they died!

You were such a blessing on their last days. Thank you for taking them.

 

[chickens really]

Well my worst mistakes first off was buying 2 of each in duel purpose and Hybrid layers. It was utter nonsense in my Coop. Sold all the Birds.
Then I ordered a selection of Speckled Sussex, EEs and Danish Brown Leghorns. Of course most turned out to be Cockerels so I picked up Orpington Chicks from a friend and brought ILT into my Flock..
My favourite Hen succumbed to the disease and I had sold off all the others.
My Birds began to attack each other with horrid murder on their minds so I am pretty much Chickenless unless you consider 3 Silkies and a Rosecomb Chickens.

 

[Folly's place]

I started with bantams from a neighbor, long ago. She said that they would be fine roosting in our pole barn. We lost many birds to predators at night, and rebuilt our garden shed into a coop.
Lice and mites; had nice hens die because I didn't realize what was going on. Another bad learning experience!
New dog; idiot rescue mutt from the shelter. He decided that invisible fencing didn't matter if there were chickens to kill. Our eighth dog on IF, and the one who prompted us to add 'Ft. Knox' dog fencing in addition the IF, just for him.
Having a few Silkies, and not realizing that they need special care. No more Silkies here!
This site has been a huge help to me, and I only wish it had been up back then.
Mary

 

[Ribh]

Believing it when I was *gifted* 6 chicks & told "sex unknown". Yep. Got 6 cockerels who attacked everything & everyone!

Not thinking that chicks could grow into cockerels & then what was I going to do?

Not realising that though a snake could get into the pen to scoff the eggs it wouldn't be able to get back out & I would have to remove it. It takes every male in the household to remove a snake from a chook pen.

That chooks can roost higher than I can climb. I once had a bantam that roosted in the top of a tree each night.

That if a determined chook can't go over it she will go under it & if she can'y go under it she will go straight through it. Herding chooks is a real thing.