I am so upset. 2 weeks ago, and this morn, I've gone out to our baby chicks (6 weeks old) and found a dead chick. It looks like the head and neck had been swallowed, and then nothing else. We have a brooder inside a 10 by 30 foot chain link fence, with chicken wire on the bottom 18 inches, and thick plastic tarp and 4 inch wire on the roof. The chicks are allowed to go in and out of the brooder through a small hole. The first time, I had gone out to put the chicks in the brooder, and there was a dead chick - looked the the pictures below. And then we found this one this morning. I think it's a snake -what else would leave the head and neck looking wet but intact, and the rest of the body fine?? I've taken pictures to get other people's opinion, to see if you think it's a snake too. And what should I do?? Right now, the baby chick pen is next to the big hens coop - they free range, and get locked up at night. The plan was to wait until the babies were 16 weeks old, and then swing out the end fence panel and add another one, so the coop and baby chick pen are joined up. Right now, every day we put in 2-3 big chickens in with the babies to socialize, and they do fine. The big chickens can go up to the little chicks through the chain link fence. Do you think I should just join them together now, in hopes that the big chickens will protect the little ones, and then also the little ones will be locked in the coop at night, for more protection? I'm just so sad about this all, and don't know what to do. Any input and advice would be soooo appreciated. I apologize for the graphic pix, but I wanted to see if y'all thought I was right about it being a snake. And I put in lots of baby chicken pen pictures so you can see if I've made any mistakes. There are a few gaps, and we could add chicken wire to the whole enclosure if we need to. We didn't dig in the chicken wire, b/c the intent is for the coop and pen to be movable - the coop we move all over the pasture.
My poor baby
The brooder - it's only about 2 x 3 feet - small, b/c they have the whole outdoor area 24/7.
Big hens eating some scratch nearby
Where the non-covered area and covered area meet - there is about a 4 inch gap.
And here's one of my favorite pictures of my 2 yr old with her favorite hen, Cleo, on the swing. Totally not related to this thread, but I needed a happy picture to remind me of the good things about raising animals.
My poor baby
The brooder - it's only about 2 x 3 feet - small, b/c they have the whole outdoor area 24/7.
Big hens eating some scratch nearby
Where the non-covered area and covered area meet - there is about a 4 inch gap.
And here's one of my favorite pictures of my 2 yr old with her favorite hen, Cleo, on the swing. Totally not related to this thread, but I needed a happy picture to remind me of the good things about raising animals.