Stefrrr
Songster
Well, the terrible thing happened. We went out Friday morning to feed our 24 chickens and found all but six chickens had been killed. I'd like advice on care for the rooster and identifying the predator.
We have a secure coop with an automatic door into a fenced and covered but not completely secure run. More on that later.
The dead chickens were spread across the run with smallish bite or claw marks on their upper backs between the wings. Many or most of them had no scratches. They seemed to have broken necks. They probably suffered and I feel terrible. We've moved the survivors into a second coop with extra reinforcements, a more secure run and no automatic door a few hundred feet away.
I found two types of tracks next to the run. A few raccoon or possum prints next to very clear, very large coyote tracks that walked back and forth next to the fence. They were clearly there on the same morning because it'd rained overnight and both sets of tracks were crystal clear and I can't quite wrap my head around what that means. This seems most likely to have been a raccoon because of the indiscriminate killing but the wounds don't seem to match what I'm seeing online. I'd appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts on that.
The five hens are all fine after a thorough exam. One has a scratch. It's treated and she's acting normal.
Our rooster was clearly a hero as usual. Either he scared off the attacker or we just saved him by coming out with the food when we did. He has deep scratches on his comb, what looked like a pair of tiny teeth marks on his waddles and a scratch under his right wing. His comb is swollen like it got pulled on a lot. He has limited movement in his right wing but it doesn't seem broken. I've treated all the scratches with vetricyn a couple of times per day.
He was unsteady on his feet when we first put them all back out yesterday morning in the new run so we kept him in a dark crate for the day but put him to sleep in the coop last night. This morning he's subdued and just hanging out on a roost bar: not crowing although he did yesterday, and I'm wondering if the 38 degree overnight temperature might've been too much for him in his recovery. He doesn't exactly seem worse than yesterday, but the fact that he's stopped crowing concerns me. He's drinking and even ate a little food this morning. Would you recommend keeping him warm and confined longer or is it better to be with his flock?
If you'd told me before I had chickens how amazing roosters can be, I don't think I would've believed it. This guy can be a real jerk to us - but this isn't the first time he's protected his flock to his own detriment and I'm really attached to him.
This is probably a little disjointed so I'm happy to answer questions or clarify. We're lucky that we have another place to put them and did some extra fortification. The coop wasn't breached but I don't want them in that run for a while at least. I don't know if I'll ever use an automatic door again.
We have a secure coop with an automatic door into a fenced and covered but not completely secure run. More on that later.
The dead chickens were spread across the run with smallish bite or claw marks on their upper backs between the wings. Many or most of them had no scratches. They seemed to have broken necks. They probably suffered and I feel terrible. We've moved the survivors into a second coop with extra reinforcements, a more secure run and no automatic door a few hundred feet away.
I found two types of tracks next to the run. A few raccoon or possum prints next to very clear, very large coyote tracks that walked back and forth next to the fence. They were clearly there on the same morning because it'd rained overnight and both sets of tracks were crystal clear and I can't quite wrap my head around what that means. This seems most likely to have been a raccoon because of the indiscriminate killing but the wounds don't seem to match what I'm seeing online. I'd appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts on that.
The five hens are all fine after a thorough exam. One has a scratch. It's treated and she's acting normal.
Our rooster was clearly a hero as usual. Either he scared off the attacker or we just saved him by coming out with the food when we did. He has deep scratches on his comb, what looked like a pair of tiny teeth marks on his waddles and a scratch under his right wing. His comb is swollen like it got pulled on a lot. He has limited movement in his right wing but it doesn't seem broken. I've treated all the scratches with vetricyn a couple of times per day.
He was unsteady on his feet when we first put them all back out yesterday morning in the new run so we kept him in a dark crate for the day but put him to sleep in the coop last night. This morning he's subdued and just hanging out on a roost bar: not crowing although he did yesterday, and I'm wondering if the 38 degree overnight temperature might've been too much for him in his recovery. He doesn't exactly seem worse than yesterday, but the fact that he's stopped crowing concerns me. He's drinking and even ate a little food this morning. Would you recommend keeping him warm and confined longer or is it better to be with his flock?
If you'd told me before I had chickens how amazing roosters can be, I don't think I would've believed it. This guy can be a real jerk to us - but this isn't the first time he's protected his flock to his own detriment and I'm really attached to him.
This is probably a little disjointed so I'm happy to answer questions or clarify. We're lucky that we have another place to put them and did some extra fortification. The coop wasn't breached but I don't want them in that run for a while at least. I don't know if I'll ever use an automatic door again.
