My chickens are killing each other. No. They really are.

[polychip]

First, I am so very sorry for the loss of your chickens - it must've been absolutely horrid to go and find that almost every day. 

The little 'coon bestard has now been caught and has obviously gone to another place, to be with some other passed on racoons.

And yes, the video cam is more than worthwhile. 

One thing bothers me somewhat.   May I suggest, now that you know who the culprit was, and before you remove the hard cloth ( shade cloth type of thing ? ) .... you might like to go purchase a small roll of snake wire and replace that very large holed chicken wire on the coop door, with snake wire.    I am almost sure ( but not 100% certain  - live in Australia, and can get it here ) ... that Texas would surely have snake wire available somewhere.   The wire is about 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch ( near enough measurements, and only a very very small baby snake could get through it, and no other predator could manage it ).  

Just to make 100% sure that you don't get any other predators visiting your chickens, and giving you such grief.    ( including field rats - which we have, and our chickens look upon them as friends, always happy to share anything with them.     When I fill in their holes under the fence, the chickens dig it out again for the rats to come visit !!  ) 

Just a thought - about the snake wire.

That's a great idea. The hardware cloth I use has 6" X 6" holes and it sturdy enough that foxes can't tear through it (they've tried). I will use the rest of that to cover the doors that didn't get covered with chicken wire. We have a very large resident bull snake female that I see every so often. We don't kill them because they eat rattlesnakes and large rodents. Too bad they don't eat raccoons and foxes, right? She's too big to get into chicken wire but I bet she has little friends that can. After this I will always be vigelent but hopefully it will be sealed up extra tight now. Thanks again for all your help.

Cheers,
Anniebee.    

 

[polychip]

No, not 6" X 6". I meant .6" X .6". I need coffee. And I'm glad you liked the story. I like it when people follow through with their questions so everyone can understand the resolution even if they were wrong like me.

 

[aart]

Quote: Wants to know how you measured 0.6"?

 

[Anniebee]

about the snake wire.

That's a great idea. The hardware cloth I use has 6" X 6" holes and it sturdy enough that foxes can't tear through it (they've tried). I will use the rest of that to cover the doors that didn't get covered with chicken wire. We have a very large resident bull snake female that I see every so often. We don't kill them because they eat rattlesnakes and large rodents. Too bad they don't eat raccoons and foxes, right? She's too big to get into chicken wire but I bet she has little friends that can. After this I will always be vigelent but hopefully it will be sealed up extra tight now. Thanks again for all your help.

No, not 6" X 6". I meant .6" X .6". I need coffee. And I'm glad you liked the story. I like it when people follow through with their questions so everyone can understand the resolution even if they were wrong like me.

no problems polychip .... glad to be of some help.

Not sure how you posted your reply directly into my own comments ( which I have copied and pasted above ) .... that's priceless. Must try and find out how you managed that. Cos I sure have never found a way to answer, except by using 'quote'.

Still and all - I have read your comments, and you were not wrong, because you saw it through to a resolution. You can't do better than that.

Cheers,

Anniebee.

 

[jerry s]

I have a 20 -30 run I put elect. wire around the fence About 4 in high 4in from the fence . Used 4 by 4's in ground and 2by 6,s at the top and cover'ed the top with 2x4 weld'ed wire Never had a problem with pred.

 

[Briamy Bill]

Yes that makes sense! I never had any roosters, and lost all of my chickens over and over. Everyone always said, oH you don't want any roosters, they are a pain, or mean, whatever. But I finally read that roosters are a good thing as they protect the flock. Well, YES indeed!! I have the best rooster for my 10 hens. I have had dogs run right through the yard, mommas with pups, skunk, etc, and I have not lost ONE single chicken and my flock wanders all over our 6 acres and goes into the many acres or corn fields.. I have an automatic door that opens and closes, a real no brainer! So, what a blessing my Jolly is, he is a great rooster, and kind, and super protective and I reward him often treats, music, lots of praise... Thanks, again I loved your murder mystery!!

 

[midwaychicks]

Ii had the same thing happening in my coop. My hens were being killed by a mystery critter. I would find them every week or so. They all had a large open wound with chunks of flesh missing. Everyone tried to tell me it was a weasel or mink. I suspected three white leghorns that had been added to the flock as pullets earlier in the year. Got rid of them and have not had a death since. Sorry for your loss. Trust your instincts!

 

[16 paws]

Yes that makes sense! I never had any roosters, and lost all of my chickens over and over. Everyone always said, oH you don't want any roosters, they are a pain, or mean, whatever. But I finally read that roosters are a good thing as they protect the flock. Well, YES indeed!! I have the best rooster for my 10 hens. I have had dogs run right through the yard, mommas with pups, skunk, etc, and I have not lost ONE single chicken and my flock wanders all over our 6 acres and goes into the many acres or corn fields.. I have an automatic door that opens and closes, a real no brainer! So, what a blessing my Jolly is, he is a great rooster, and kind, and super protective and I reward him often treats, music, lots of praise... Thanks, again I loved your murder mystery!!

I agree totally,

I havent had any predator losses since I have been keeping roosters. They really do their job of watching and warning the hens when danger is near. I have 5 roosters right now and when there is danger they start a chain reaction of clucking that you cant ignore.

My neighbor hates me but thats another story!

 

[Skyehawk]

I wouldn't call a racoon evil but they are crafty and smart. They are excellent predators, able to survive where some other animals can't. He was just looking for food. Some people make food out of them or sell their skins. How evil is that? They can, however, be very, very vicious as you probably found out when you trapped him. I have seen them whip a large dog. They will actually drown a dog if they are attacked in deep water by the dog. When I was a kid, I watched one nearly drown my hunting dog. It was on top of my dog holding him under water. When he popped up to breath himself, I shot him just in time to save my dog who had already started drowning. I had to pull him out of the water and pump the water out of him. Will never forget that. Hope you don't ever get another one after your chickens.

 

[greylock]

I am interested in reading the end of this story.Is your hen still in the attack mode? Is something else killing them?
I had/have a similar problem with one of the babies I purchased in March. From 2 days old she was attacking the other babies and they were scared to death of her. She had my baby White Americana bleeding from several sores. I put her in a dog cage by herself for a few weeks and returned her to the 3 X3 puppy play pen I had the others in. She started to attack them again as soon as she was returned and I had to take her out again. ( she is a Wellsummer baby). I have had them outside for a good month now in a small baby coop which is in an inclosed 50 X 50 foot area off the main coop. ( I have them next to but not with the adults right now.) I have had my chick from hell in a dog crate in that inclosure but I do not let her in with the other babies. She will be harder to catch in that area. They are all about 3 months old and should be able to join the adults in another month. I am torn as to turn her loose with the babies or wait till I let them join the adults who will not put up with her nonsense,