This year , we are participating in the 4-H poultry chain. We had great luck in the beginning with our chickens. Normally, we lose several baby chicks but this time we made it about 5 weeks before tragedy struck.
The chickens had been living in a cage in the garage. The kids had done a great job feeding and watering them. We left home for a few hours one afternoon and when we returned, I spotted three dead chickens lying on the floor.
During the afternoon feeding, an official count was made and we discovered that 7 were actually missing. An animal (we're guessing a dog) pulled them through the cage. Either it got full before it ate all of its prey or we came home too early.
That weekend we readied the larger pen. We had older {larger} chickens in it a few years ago but the holes in the chain link are large enough to pull a young chicken through. We installed chicken wire and sheet metal around the bottom. The chickens seem to be growing well and adapting to their new home.
These two weren't much help in the process but they looked cute. :-)
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