What were your worst mistakes when you first started?

[Mrs. K]

Money wasted in wasted feed is another thing I learned. I started out worrying that they would starve to death if not constantly with feed. Way too much was trampled into the dirt and never eaten. And that attracts rodents.

Now I take down just enough for the day. At night, if there is a lot left over, I won't bring feed the next day, or just a little. If the bowl is empty, then the next day, I bring a little more. What I have found is the amount they eat each day varies quite a bit. Double bowling my feed set up has also helped.

There is a difference between hungry birds and starving birds.

Mrs K

 

[TwoCrows]

Two words- "Prefab Coop"
I'm fine with my coop- a Prefab with a hecka lot of improvements- added run, automattic door, added coop.

Oh yeah, this was my one of my biggest blunders. These tiny pre-fab coops need SO much updating to make them work, I threw in the towel at the end of year 2 and built a big ol' coop for my chickens. Nothing better than a WALK IN coop, for myself AND my birds!

 

[Cyprus]

Jumped back on BYC to check my inbox, and saw this thread. Oh dear lord, where do I begin? I'm the definition of a screw up when it comes to chickens, and I am more than aware that several people will agree.
I'll list as many as I can think of from my almost 5 years of chicken keeping. Most of these were learned in the last 5 or 6 months.

1. Family dogs can kill chickens
2. Dogs kept outside in a kennel actively deter foxes and alert for other predators.
3. Isolating a sick bird almost always kills the bird quicker than leaving it with its flock.
4. Mites and lice cause anemia and, if left untreated, can kill a chicken.
5. Don't assume that possums can't kill chickens
6. Don't assume that SKUNKS can't kill chickens
7. TSC is a joke, they don't know their breeds and can't sex correctly to save their lives
8. It is not a good idea to house 6 rooster with 12 hens in confinement
9. A coop made for no more than 6 chickens is NOT suitable for any more than 6 chickens, especially a max load of 22 chickens
10. Don't let your birds roost outside at night because you're too lazy to catch them and put them in the coop
11. A bird screaming in the middle of the night is HIGH CAUSE FOR CONCERN
12. Ventilation is important
13. Don't buy impulse chicks
14. DO NOT BUY BIRDS FROM SWAPS
15. Biosecurity is important
16. Lice suck
17. Don't leave chicks in a rabbit hutch outside overnight in a storm with 60mph winds. R.I.P the chicks I never found.
18. Force feeding a bird with Marek's to keep it alive is unethical
19. Free ranging is a gamble that I lose more often than not
20. Cats can and will climb your fence to attack your birds
21. Don't ignore comb necrosis
22. Temporary equals permanent. Build your coop the way it should be the FIRST time unless you want to lose birds to predators.
23. Incubating eggs, then forgetting to turn them nearly every day is very, very bad.
24. Coccidiosis can kill
25. Summer heat can kill
26. Frostbite is more prevalent in closed coops with added heat
27. Do not keep buying chickens just because you can
28. Actually learn from the above mistakes instead of just repeating them.

 

[Deblett]

Huh, where do I start?

Convincing my Husband that pet chickens and having our own fresh eggs was a good idea!!

My coop and run were good choices, but after a month or so I wanted them to roam freely, so 3 chickens gone first day to a very bold fox, I was in the garden at the time, broad daylight ( I lived in a village in the UK then).
Replaced chicken 3 times over 2 years due to foxes.
Then decided to get ducks as well, made other half dig me pond, that was a huge mistake in its self, little did I know how my beautiful garden would be a mud lake in a matter of weeks! Other half not happy . Foxes killed them too, so gave up and tidied up pond and had koy fish instead for a few years.

Moved to Northern Rural Portugal, thought I would start again with chickens, everyone has chickens in Portugal! But they only have chicken as a food scource so finding pretty chickens was difficult and even more difficult was finding stores that sold everything you need to keep chickens cause in this area they don't keep them long enough to need medication, if they are sick you kill and eat it! Was also told rarely were foxes seen and even if there were foxes, because there are not many, they are protectedso after finding 2, 12 week old girls and a boy and multiple trips back and forth to UK to make sure I had everything I needed to look after chickens, solid coop and seeminly secure run, medication etc, 6 months later fox came! So 3 days ago said fox got Roo and 1 chicken and injured 3rd whom I have now been spoon feeding for the last 3 days, but I don't think she is going to make it

My husband has now put his foot down and said never again, too much heartbreak, but.....we'll see!

 

[chicknmania]

1: Not deworming the flock.
2. Not sufficiently quarantining new arrivals to the flock.

1) We now deworm on a regular schedule with a broad spectrum dewormer. Worms can kill, and quickly.

2) We now quarantine ALL arrivals for no less than 3 weeks, sometimes up to five. When we first got chickens, my son got some at an auction. Although they were quarantined, quarantine was not sufficient. They had ILT (infectious larygeotracheitis). It was a horrible, humbling, and terribly sad, but very good learning experience. Quarantine also makes everything a whole lot less stressful..not only for the new arrivals, but also for the existing flock. And, except on rare occasions, in most instances we either hatch our own chicks, get chicks from a reputable hatchery, buy birds from a reputable breeder, or from places or individuals where we''re very sure they have healthy birds. We try to avoid swaps, although we will still buy from one occasionally. I will never buy from another auction.

 

[RodNTN]

Buying your first chicks, and not building the coop until your chicks are ready to go outside...

 

[Shadrach]

Reading this thread it seems we’re not very good at this chicken keeping business. I read lots and talked to quite a few locals here before I made any changes to how the chickens were kept and still made a complete mess of things.
I make a point of burying the dead here, partly out of respect, but partly to remind me that because of my incompetence some creature has died.
The ground here is generally rock hard and I have a good long while to think about the poor chicken I’m burying and what more I could do to reduce the death rate while giving them the freedom I believe is best for them.
I think, although it’s so long since any chickens were kept confined here, that some breeds fare better confined than others. I would if I were to start from scratch have a different breed and my choosing criteria wouldn’t be how many eggs they laid, or what they looked like, but how well they could adapt to this environment. Game fowl would fare better here as would Black Minorcans and the local Catalan breed.
I estimate it will take at least another two generations before the mutts I have here are feral enough to fare well free ranging. Each generation seems to fare better, so either I’m learning, or they are; maybe both.

 

[TwoCrows]

Letting wild birds get into the chicken's food and water stations put outside while the chickens free ranged. Entire flock contracted MS, I nearly lost them all. I was able to save each and every one however never again will I leave food and water outside for the chickens.

 

[mmoreau]

Make sure you have a secure coop and lock them up every single night, and know that sometimes you will have to cull a bird (rehome, freezer, new coop whatever your "cull" is).
We had a hen that was horrible and bullied our other chickens. One night she wouldnt let them in the coop, so they flew into an oak tree one night. ONE night outside is all it takes for the whole flock to be taken by a predator.
If I had culled our mean hen, I would still have the other 7 hens that would be laying. But, she stayed because I let my emotions kick in and I felt bad moving her from her home. She deserved to go.

 

[Kris5902]

Buying your first chicks, and not building the coop until your chicks are ready to go outside...

Buying hatching eggs, thinking “there’s plenty of time to build the outside housing”! Then life gets in the way and next thing you know they are teenagers and you’re scrambling to house them. Speaking of which I need to get moving on finishing that today! I can always add the nesting boxes later, right?