When do chickens need to have access to food 24/7?

[Ann With A Plan]

I was out painting on the coops and she was dust bathing in a garden when the fox took her. I knew it was a risk to let her out but since I was also out there I didn't think anything would come around. Live and learn.

Ohhh ok. Yeah, I have let Chubby Cheeks out of the fenced yard so she could roam around. She always stays close and follows us around if we're out there. But I'm not doing that anymore!
My daughter had chickens a few years ago. They were in a small fenced yard, but with no top. My daughter but didn't think anything would get them. A hawk swooped down in there and she found them huddled in the corner while the hawk killed and ate their sister.

 

[Ann With A Plan]

I had been seeing a fox at night on the game cameras but I also see many other predators too. After it got Gladys I was seeing it more and more during the day. I did eventually eliminate it. It was mangy and stinky.

We have them here, as well as coyotes, snakes, etc. The neighbor's many cats keep the rodents at bay, but I'm not taking any chances.

 

[cmom]

I have electric wires around my coops and large pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. All due to losses from predators in the past. My land is mostly open pasture so there is no place for the birds to hide. They actually prefer to be in their pens where they have nice shade.

 

[Ann With A Plan]

I have electric wires around my coops and large pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. All due to losses from predators in the past. My land is mostly open pasture so there is no place for the birds to hide. They actually prefer to be in their pens where they have nice shade.
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I moved my fencing so that a lot of it is under shade. I can electrify my fencing if I want. I also have bird netting that I'd like to hang from above.

 

[cmom]

I have electric wires around my coops and pens. This is an older picture and I have added another coop on the end but the wires are still up now including the newer coop and pen too. I got my stuff from TSC. When I first put up the electric wires a few predators did test it but now they know it's there. I think they teach their young that it's off limits.
https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php

 

[Homesteadermomma6382]

Hmmm...I would suspect there was another issue that caused her demise. While it is possible for chicks to suffocate if they "pile" on each other in large numbers, it is hard to imagine it happening when they are normally roosting.

I have had tiny OEG bantams sleep under large layers, in one case a bantam raised 3 full sized layer chicks and when the chicks no longer fit underneath her she started sleeping under them and never stopped. The bedtime head count meant shining a flashlight underneath her grown chicks to look for a tiny pair of bantam legs.

They were still in the brooder. Only about 4 weeks old.

 

[Ann With A Plan]

I have electric wires around my coops and pens. This is an older picture and I have added another coop on the end but the wires are still up now including the newer coop and pen too. I got my stuff from TSC. When I first put up the electric wires a few predators did test it but now they know it's there. I think they teach their young that it's off limits.
https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php
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Are all those videos yours? I jumped a little at the cat one. I have cats that come and go here, a few seemed to have their eyes on the chicks early on. But not anymore.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Oh right, she is the same age but the smallest, hasn't grown much. She can find worms bit can't pick them up. I try to give her several a day at least, but draping it over the lower beak so she can work it into her mouth. She is always hungry and has to bury her beak into the food to get it scooped into her mouth.

I think it is awesome and patient of you to have given her the time and a chance instead of putting her down immediately like some people would have done right off. Animals can adapt to disabilities and do not see themselves as handicapped. They can manage quite well with problems in their body makeup or with their bodies if we give them time and a leg up. Yes they need the extra help and shelter sometimes if they have a problem and sometimes don’t survive but it doesn’t hurt to give them a chance if we have the time and resources available to do so. We are the better for it nonetheless and it sets a great example for our kids if we have them also.

 

[Ann With A Plan]

I think it is awesome and patient of you to have given her the time and a chance instead of putting her down immediately like some people would have done right off. Animals can adapt to disabilities and do not see themselves as handicapped. They can manage quite well with problems in their body makeup or with their bodies if we give them time and a leg up. Yes they need the extra help and shelter sometimes if they have a problem and sometimes don’t survive but it doesn’t hurt to give them a chance if we have the time and resources available to do so. We are the better for it nonetheless and it sets a great example for our kids if we have them also.

Well, like others have said...theirs survived and did ok. I thought about clipping the beak, but wouldn't know how much to clip off and if both would need it. The top one is getting overgrown because her body isn't keeping up with it, either.

 

[cmom]

Are all those videos yours? I jumped a little at the cat one. I have cats that come and go here, a few seemed to have their eyes on the chicks early on. But not anymore.

The cat one isn't but the rest are. I do have a video of a cat touching the electric wire but it was a foggy night so it's hard to see. When it touched the wire it jumped and when it came down it just stood there for a few seconds with a look of "what the ---- just happened". The cat hasn't been around the coops since. I think a young fox tested the wires a couple of weeks ago. I heard something around midnight one night. I'm pretty sure it was the fox testing the wires.