Whats the worst thing you've done to your poor chickens?

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I found out that chickens are a lot more resilient then people give them credit for, but my big mistake was not quarantining new birds before introducing them to the rest of the flock.
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Thanks for the info guys! I had a idea of surrounding the perimeter of my coop with a 4' chain link fence laying flat on the ground. Do you think this would be enough to prevent digging?
 
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, from Virginia!

Worst thing? I learned a hard lesson about proper nutrition. My gals developed symptoms that were classic of the dreaded Merek's disease. Knowing a bit about good nutrition, I delved deeper into proper chicken nutrition and with my research, I decided to go out of my way to get better feed than what I was finding locally (i.e. inferior quality feed). Three of my gals died before I could get this new feed, but as soon as I did, I switched the remaining living, but dying, hens to a non-GMO, non-soy based, organic feed source that included the Fetrell's Organic Nutri-Balancer supplement. Lo and behold, ever single one of my remaining dying birds perked right up and are happy little gals today!
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I cannot emphasize enough the importance of good nutrition and for that, I highly recommend reading, "The Small Scale Poultry Flock", by Harvey Ussery. This is my favorite all encompassing chicken handbook, but I especially appreciate the depth of discussion he goes into for nutrition. Whatever the cause of my girls' dying symptoms, nutrition saved 15 little gals' lives who were very much on the verge of death.

Hope that helps! Enjoy your new flock!
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These are all great! I appreciate all of the great help/support I'm able to get on this site! I'm definitely going to expand my knowledge on nutrition and coop security.
I think the last thing I need to learn more about is disease. Do I need to take my chicks to a vet or can I buy special foods/supplements that will cover all of the basics? Again, I'm going to be doing this from eggs so I do not have the option of asking the hatchery to help me on this one.
Happy new year everyone! I notice people trying to have their chick hatch today so I hope all worked out well!
 
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predators was my problem too.
When we built the new coop, we actually lined the walls w wire before the wood outside. It helped keep a lot out for awhile, but eventually rats chew thru anything.
Not sure a substantial layer of wire will prevent digging if there's a 'seam' at the floor to wall space?
If you do the wire outer floor, perhaps consider starting it near the base and bending the wire to have a continual 'wall'?
Also, consider that a low to the ground electric fence will keep a lot of critters out, and is easy to keep brush free and is a lot less perimiter than a 4 ft wire floor to care for over time?

A wire roof keeps out the hawks and anything that climbs the walls. (electic fence helps keep the ground ones from attaining a wall, but won't help against fishers or martins. Fishers especially, will come from the tree's as much as from the ground. And, once you've every heard a Fisher rally cry, you'll never forget it. ugh....)

It feels like a prison but it'll keep them safe. Mostly, keep them safe at night!!!

One thing I did, and I think it was something I did right, was to offer the grass clippings to the birds when I cut the grass. They loved it and it became thier 'fresh greens' once we had the big yard penned in. They all perked up whenever we started the lawn mower :)

Good luck and have fun!
My outlook of 'live or die' especially when hatching, was :
don't coddle the weak ones. You can try, but consider that the strong ones survive for a reason. If you manage to raise what started out as a weak chick, it may not be the strongest chicken and you can dimish your birds by keeping them all.
It is sad to lose some, and especially when they are so small and fragile, but find good care practices, stick to them, and the strong ones will be your rewards.

Cheers
Jenny
 

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