First Death

[ChickyCh00k]

I lost my first chicken today. My husband found her in a pile of feathers with her head hanging by a thread. I'm just devastated. I assume it was a hawk as the netting/fencing around the chicken yard was completely in tact and none of the other chickens were harmed.

Is there anything else that would have left the body that way? She was my heaviest bird, so I assume the hawk wasn't able to take her once it killed her(?)

I feel just awful. They're only a year old. I have locked the rest of the flock up in the run. I knew this was a risk of letting them be out in the yard. It's terrible not knowing what did it.

RIP, Loki

 

[southwestclucker]

I lost my first chicken today. My husband found her in a pile of feathers with her head hanging by a thread. I'm just devastated. I assume it was a hawk as the netting/fencing around the chicken yard was completely in tact and none of the other chickens were harmed.

Is there anything else that would have left the body that way? She was my heaviest bird, so I assume the hawk wasn't able to take her once it killed her(?)

I feel just awful. They're only a year old. I have locked the rest of the flock up in the run. I knew this was a risk of letting them be out in the yard. It's terrible not knowing what did it.

RIP, Loki

so sorry for your loss

 

[Tookie]

I'm so sorry for your loss, its hard.

 

[SilverBirds]

It does sound like a hawk. I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[fluffycrow]

I lost my first chicken today. My husband found her in a pile of feathers with her head hanging by a thread. I'm just devastated. I assume it was a hawk as the netting/fencing around the chicken yard was completely in tact and none of the other chickens were harmed.

Is there anything else that would have left the body that way? She was my heaviest bird, so I assume the hawk wasn't able to take her once it killed her(?)

I feel just awful. They're only a year old. I have locked the rest of the flock up in the run. I knew this was a risk of letting them be out in the yard. It's terrible not knowing what did it.

RIP, Loki

I'm so sorry for your loss Chicky. I know how much you love these birds, I'm sure you're hurting. This is the hardest part of chicken keeping

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I'm so sorry for your loss Chicky. I know how much you love these birds, I'm sure you're hurting. This is the hardest part of chicken keeping

Thank you, Fluffy . I'm absolutely gutted about it. I hate the thought of them having to be locked in the run (the girls are also not happy about it - they're all just standing by the door like,"it isn't bedtime..."), but I also don't want to risk losing anymore - I love them so much. Overhead netting is the next step, I guess.

I'm not even certain it was a hawk, but I can't think of anything else in my area that would've left her like that. We have raccoons and coyotes around here, but I think there would have been more carnage and less chicken left if it was one of those animals. Uuuggghhh, I'm just horrified.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

It does sound like a hawk. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thank you . I really can't think of anything else that would've left her that way.

 

[Debbie292d]

Handled it with way more grace than I would

Same here. I was so close to saying something, then saw that perfect response!

 

[Debbie292d]

I lost my first chicken today. My husband found her in a pile of feathers with her head hanging by a thread. I'm just devastated. I assume it was a hawk as the netting/fencing around the chicken yard was completely in tact and none of the other chickens were harmed.

Is there anything else that would have left the body that way? She was my heaviest bird, so I assume the hawk wasn't able to take her once it killed her(?)

I feel just awful. They're only a year old. I have locked the rest of the flock up in the run. I knew this was a risk of letting them be out in the yard. It's terrible not knowing what did it.

RIP, Loki

I read a similar incident a couple of weeks ago on FB and cried. A lady who had a chicken that out of her flock of 40, would come running to her and follow her around the yard. Her chickens free-ranged for years and never had issues, until one day, that one chicken was gone. It had to be a hawk. She prefaced her post with something like,"Do not come at me for free-ranging my chickens. I give them happy lives. I know they would give up half of their years of life to be able to free range, rather than to be penned up and live out them all." I believe she is right.
I gave her some tips though, as we all know that hawk will be back.

 

[fluffycrow]

Thank you, Fluffy . I'm absolutely gutted about it. I hate the thought of them having to be locked in the run (the girls are also not happy about it - they're all just standing by the door like,"it isn't bedtime..."), but I also don't want to risk losing anymore - I love them so much. Overhead netting is the next step, I guess.

I'm not even certain it was a hawk, but I can't think of anything else in my area that would've left her like that. We have raccoons and coyotes around here, but I think there would have been more carnage and less chicken left if it was one of those animals. Uuuggghhh, I'm just horrified.

No words, just hugs. Not knowing what exactly got your baby killed is terrible