What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[bobbi-j]

Another thing I just thought of - thinking I could save all the sick/injured ones. I have learned over the years that it's kinder to put down a bird that has chronic problems than, to let it drag on and on. I will put them down right away now when they develop Ascites. (The first one, I let her be for a few days to see if she got better. She didn't, and I felt terrible for making her suffer that long.) Fortunately, I've only had a few birds with it. I also will not try to fix one that is seriously injured. This is my opinion, of course, and we all have to do what we feel is best for our flock. It doesn't make sense for me economically to bring one to a vet (not that we have a poultry vet around here) and spend hundreds of dollars when I can replace a bird for less than $5 during Chick Days.

 

[Crow-ded house]

Hey - if you're using a lot of recycled materials, there's another thread here that asks "What have you recycled" for your coop/run/etc. It's a neat thread, with some really creative and really ... uhh ... unique? .. recycling ideas. You should post some pics!

Thanks!! I will look that one up.

 

[Folly's place]

By the time you realize that a hen is ill, she's REALLY sick, and saving her is about impossible. Lingering illnesses that have no real hope for recovery are bad, and those critters are euthanized here.
Scads of cash won't fix many of these issues either.
Mary

 

[Blooie]

So you would use this to raise day old chicks that you ordered, bought, etc until they are 6 - 8 weeks?

I would and I do. In fact, the chicks that I hatched here used Mama Heating Pad as soon as they were dry and fluffed. But they don't need it for 6-8 weeks. Mine are raised outside, even in temps in the teens and twenties, and spend most of their time exploring their surroundings, then ducking under MHP for a quick warmup or if they get spooked, just as they do under a Mother Broody. In a few days they are loafing up on top of it, just as they do with a broody. By a couple of weeks old they are usually only using MHP at night, preferring to snuggle on top of or on the sides of it during the day, and the heating pad setting is reduced to 2 or even 1. By 3 and 4 weeks they have taken themselves off all heat entirely, and at that time I remove the entire brooder and the heating pad. Because they've been able to regulate their own needs, they acclimate much much sooner to ambient temperatures and don't require heat like they did when they were little. Besides, by that age they wouldn't all fit under a broody hen anymore anyway, right?

If you have electricity in your coop, and a place to separate the chicks for a few weeks, you can even start them out in the coop. I did. Lows in the 20's and 30's some nights, but they were nice and snug with the MHP.

Yep, and they sure seem to feather out fast! Others disagree with me, and that's okay. I know what I've observed and it hasn't been breed specific - it's been the same with everything from Brahmas to Silkies!

 

[SW31]

Yes, mine will also end up as a retirement home; my chickens are pets, they have names and we like it that way.

 

[chickenreyna]

Balancing a proper diet! tThought chickens only needed some corn and egg crumbles, as feed daily.. lol And the Cleanliness thing.. thing gotta clean nesting areas regularluw! check the flock for mites..keep everything nice and clean.. people assume chickens are so nasty. But they are actually very meticulous and enjoy a clean house and areas like we do

Also people with crest feathered birds.. Silkies or polish etc.. check them regularly to make sure eyes aren't swollen etc

 

[chickenreyna]

Yes, mine will also end up as a retirement home; my chickens are pets, they have names and we like it that way.

Same here..we have fun with our girls names
ones spikehead & the other is flathead in regards to
their comb sizes! Also, have a black copper maran named, Penny clever, right?? And then a tiny bantam black hen we call raveraven due to the striking resemblance of a raven bird
LOL

 

[No More Empty Nest]

Thanks to BYC, I haven't done much of anything wrong until now. I installed a new perch in the run...above the ramp into the coop. Instant piles of poop on the ramp!

 

[Broody Bist]

We got our first chickens about 7 years ago. The worst mistake we made was not feeding our chickens grit or oyster shell.
We lost 5 of our 6 RIR’s before they were even a year old.
Thanks to some helpful advice from the lady at the feed store, we are now are on our 3rd generation of chickens from the surviving RIR, Susie, who died last month. She was still our best egg layer up until the day she died.

 

[MissChick@dee]

We got our first chickens about 7 years ago. The worst mistake we made was not feeding our chickens grit or oyster shell.
We lost 5 of our 6 RIR’s before they were even a year old.
Thanks to some helpful advice from the lady at the feed store, we are now are on our 3rd generation of chickens from the surviving RIR, Susie, who died last month. She was still our best egg layer up until the day she died.

Some lessons we learn are hard. Sorry for your loss.