I was somber this morning... thinking if I should even own 'prey' animals at all with my hunter cats around.... but I knew if I didn't act fast, a replacement chick would be impossible.
I knew I couldn't get a tiny baby chick again because the older chickens would peck her to death attempting to get the pecking order established again. So I ran to Dell's with Logan and asked if they had chicks still that were from the same batch as our 3 wk old hens.
They had exactly two 3 wk old Buff Orphington's left... And I got them both. We are naming them Bessy 2 and Betty. They seem to be settling in just fine with the other chicks.
I also bought a 1x1inch hog fence metal top for the brooder box. No chickens out, no cats in.
Lets just hope that they can last another 5 wks until they can be outside. Then I think they will be fine... but until they are too big for the cats to prey on, we will be watching closely.
7 comments
I am sorry about Bessy 1. :( So glad, though, that you were able to find two replacements! This is one thing that worries me about getting chickens. Our Kaya, especially, is very sensitive and still cries about pets that died 5+ years ago.
Fingers crossed! I'll have to post once we get our peeps ... I hope it goes smoothly for us!
oh I want chickens but with two terriers it's probably not the best idea.
I'm so sorry aboout the chicks you lost. When our chiks were little I made a cat proof brooder out of a very large plastic storage box from Target. I cut the center square of the lid off. I secured hardware cloth with zip ties and were were in buisness! Our hunter cat wasn't able to get to the chicks and eventually lost intrest. Now that they are bigger that he is, he still watches them outside, but stays away from them.
ugh, I know how you feel. last year we kept our chicks in the garage. well my daughter then (3) decided to go out there with our dog. I have never been so angry at my dog. Not a single chick survived :(
Oh! That's terrible! And your daughter too... I bet she had NO idea what to do. Poor thing!
Blessings,
Val
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