Lost one chick

[MenachemEliyahu]

Late in the evening I heard the chicks peeping rather loudly in the coop and when I went to check on them I saw one of them in the run. The hens already got to it. I can’t figure out how the chick got out, but I have a feeling that one of the hens pulled the chick out of the coop. I thought the 1 inch square plastic mesh would be enough to keep them separate. Now I have to figure out how to keep the chicks out of reach until the get bigger.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Unless you saw it happen, it wasn't the hens. Your brooder isn't predator proof: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/started-integrating.1461980/ - something like a raccoon could easily break in through that window screening. My guess is something else got in there and pulled out the chick, and if you saw the hens pecking at it, it was already dead or dying.

Do you have photos of where the chick was pulled through?

 

[MenachemEliyahu]

Unless you saw it happen, it wasn't the hens. Your brooder isn't predator proof: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/started-integrating.1461980/ - something like a raccoon could easily break in through that window screening. My guess is something else got in there and pulled out the chick, and if you saw the hens pecking at it, it was already dead or dying.

Do you have photos of where the chick was pulled through?

The green mesh is only on the inside. Everything is enclosed with wire. I didn’t see any breaks. It will have to wait until morning.

 

[Aapomp831]

The green mesh is only on the inside. Everything is enclosed with wire. I didn’t see any breaks. It will have to wait until morning.

A raccoon could easily pull a chick through that. I would wrap it with chicken wire.

 

[MenachemEliyahu]

A raccoon could easily pull a chick through that. I would wrap it with chicken wire.

Valid point, but the chick was found inside the run in front of the a-frame. The window screening and wire is on the outside.

The chickens are essentially caged in because the property is not fenced in and there are hawks. The brooder/coop has a landing where, I thought, the hens can go up to see the chicks but remain separate. Now I’m thinking that wasn’t such a good idea.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is there any damage to the mesh where the landing is?

Just trying to figure out how and where the chick was removed from the brooder (so that can get patched up). It's very unlikely that hens would attempt to reach in to get to chicks. Have you seen the hens being aggressive towards the chicks even from the outside?

 

[MenachemEliyahu]

Is there any damage to the mesh where the landing is?

Just trying to figure out how and where the chick was removed from the brooder (so that can get patched up). It's very unlikely that hens would attempt to reach in to get to chicks. Have you seen the hens being aggressive towards the chicks even from the outside?

I didn’t see any damage at the time. All the other chicks looked like they were trying to go through the mesh as if they we trying to follow it. Nothing was giving.

I haven’t really seen the hens on the landing at all. They are usually in the run or under the brooder for some shade. I’ve seen them stand straight up and flap their wings a few times in front of the chicks, but other than that nothing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yeah I really don't think it's the hens, but hard to say what it might've been, if you can't find where the predator/killer was getting in.

Assuming you don't have a trail cam/coop cam available, might want to check around your chicken area when you can in the evening or early morning, to see if you can spot any signs of activity around the area. Like I've found raccoon fur on the wire on my run before - it didn't get in but it made it obvious that one tried to get in.

Best of luck, I hope you don't lose any of the others!

 

[MenachemEliyahu]

Yeah I really don't think it's the hens, but hard to say what it might've been, if you can't find where the predator/killer was getting in.

Assuming you don't have a trail cam/coop cam available, might want to check around your chicken area when you can in the evening or early morning, to see if you can spot any signs of activity around the area. Like I've found raccoon fur on the wire on my run before - it didn't get in but it made it obvious that one tried to get in.

Best of luck, I hope you don't lose any of the others!

I checked around the brooder, everything on the outside was sound. The green mesh in the inside was still secured as well. I noticed that there were two little cuts to the mesh on the front side, but they don’t seem significant. Is it possible that the chick jumped over the front straight into the run?

Gladys jumped up on to the landing as I was checking. She gave a peck at the chicks then scratched around for a moment then left. The chicks didn’t seem afraid of her

 

[Mellowmalt]

aw that's a shame, the chick escaped imo. There are two places I see of concern. The first is that the green wire doesn't cover the top so a chick could easily jump out there. Some of my bantams can fly up to 70cm height at 3 weeks age, then they start becoming fatter and can't fly as high anymore but there is a week where their light body weight can make them reach very high. The other worry is that the green netting to the other side is just resting on the ground so possibly one managed to lift it and squeeze under it. It was one of these two routes it found. No chicken will have pulled it out thrugh those holes.

this is what I see when I look at that picture: