My Rhode Island Reds

This time last year Tim & I dove head first into raising chickens.  We had been talking about it for years, but never did it.  One day we were in Tractor Supply picking up a 50lb bag of dogfood when the girls noticed all the adorable, fluffy chickens peeping away in the middle of the store.  Tim looked at me, I back at him.  I gave a shrug; he asked, "Well?"

We left the store with 6 yellow, chirping Rhode Island Reds, chick feed, a starter kit, and three uber excited girls.

We were chick owners for approximately 1 hour before we made a terrible mistake and left the chicks alone for 5 minutes.  That's when one of our outside cats decided they would make a tasty treat.  Oops!  *blush*  I went the very next day and picked up 6 more chicks.

A few days after bringing home the second 6 chicks, I found one croaked over in their water.  I removed it from the brooder and placed it in a box to be disposed of after the children came home.  Tim happened to be home from work that day and texted me later while I was at school pick-up.  The chick was alive!  He heard it cheeping in the box, all alone.  I had him give it feed and water, but to keep it away from the others.

It lived for another 12 hours before it really was croaked over the next morning.  Weird!

At this point we were down to 5 chicks.  Several weeks passed, we built a coop and run, and finally they were big enough (and the weather warm enough) to move into their new home.  Hooray!  And then it happened. . .

One morning I came out and we were missing a chicken.  We found some feathers and possibly blood, so we figured a creature of the night had taken it.  Three nights later it happened again.  :(  That's when we decided to lock them in the coop at night instead of allowing them to roam free.  After that it was all good.

The three hens left started laying, and we've all been happy ever since!

It took a lot of trial and error, but I believe we have finally figured out this chicken stuff.  So much so that we picked up 6 Barred Plymouth Rock chicks just over a week ago.  So far no water croakers.  *Fingers Crossed*