So Upset

[newfarmgirl]

I really don't mean to hijack your post, but I am desperately trying to save the rest of my chickens. I posted earlier on another thread and didn't get much of a reply so I am going to try again:

ok..now that the shock is wearing off, I want to share my story and ask for advise. I got up this morning to find 2 of my hens and my Guinea dead in the chicken run. I have (had) a flock of 16 chickens and 1 Guinea. The Guinea and 10 of my hens were raised by me from chicks. Little miss Guinea thought she was a chicken and was very protective of the flock-always announcing trouble. We live on a farm and have all sorts of predators-hawks, owls,fox, dogs and cats that I have seen. Our chicken run is secured with 10 foot high fencing (2x4 inch hard wire), aviary netting on top, and chicken wire sunk 2 feet under ground. I haven't had any problem keeping them secure until now. After I cleaned up the bodies, I checked the perimeter. Nothing ground level was disturbed. The only chink in the armour I noticed was a a small 6 x 8 inch section of aviary netting that wasn't secured to the fence line. (the zip tie broke at a seam) and that was at the 10 feet mark-up the fence/run. The foxes haven't bothered trying to dig to get in as there seems to be ample rodents and rabbits around for them. Hawks will circle but not land. There IS the neighbors cat that runs wild and is always stalking around the coop. I'm thinking it may have jumped along the fence line and gotten in through that one unsecured spot. The condition of the birds leaves me confused. Guinea put up one heck of a fight. None of their meat was gone-just a lot of feathers. It is as if the kill was for sport. 7 of my remaining birds are in various shapes of injury. I have put probiotics in their water and moved the injured birds inside the coop to keep warm. All except 2 are drinking and willing to be hand fed mealworms. My questions for you out there, is could a cat have done this much damage? I don't mind the kill so much if the predator had eaten the ladies (circle of life...) but this seems senseless. I am in Northern Virginia and haven't seen other predators. Was it the cat? Can I put antibiotics in the ladies water- and if so- what and how much? Any help is greatly appreciated. Tonight I will close their trap door. I haven't had to do that in the 2 years I have had chickens.

to add to the post- my neighbors cat is basically ferral- it doesn't live indoors and they don't feed it. I have locked my remaing girls in the coop for the night and successfully administered antibiotic ointment to open wounds and gave some "[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]asprin" water- even by syringe to my hurting ladies. Any advise or wisdom is appreciated. Could it be weasels?[/FONT]

 

[happybooker1]

I don't know about the damage cats do but.... My g'parents had a farm in West Texas. G'ma always had a flock of white leghorns and a few Banties. I would guess at least 40 chickens at a time. Maybe more.

They also had farm cats. LOTS of them. I'm guessing at a time probably 2 dozen or so in various stages of growth. I NEVER heard them talk of the cats going after the chickens and/or killing them. Granddad would hit the ground running at night when they heard something in the chickens & he'd come back telling what he saw (fox, coyote, skunk, even a panther or two) but I never heard them say the CATS were killing the chickens. Even the baby chicks. And these cats were pretty much on their own too -- they could eat scraps if G'ma threw them out but mostly they ate the rats/mice in the barn and occassional baby bunnies.

I have 7 indoor/outdoor cats. My flock of banties free-ranges in my yard. The cats are in the yard. They don't even stalk them. They really pay no attention to them -- but I came home last night to find baby bird remains in my bathroom. Nice.

 

[da417]

I am so sorry. I am not much of an expert but I do know that a raccoon can climb and squeeze in a small area, as well as weasels, and possibly that cat. Cats, if hungry enough will kill chickens, I don't know about so much for sport though, although anything is possible. If it is a predator, then it will be back so make sure you fix that area.

I finally have calmed down some from my trauma and Maybelle seems to be okay. She's talking. I apologize for the misspells in my post earlier, I was so freaked out and using my Nook to post which is not easy. When I found her on the ground her eyes were closed and I thought sure she was dead. When I picked her up she opened her eyes and was breathing so hard, cause she was so terrified. I don't know if chickens faint, but I think she actually fainted from fright! My son is in school all day and hubby is working. I will be gone 2 days, but they can make sure they have food and plenty of water,. I just can't leave them out because I know they will be picked off. I was so torn up my hubby is getting plans to build another pen with a top so I can cover it with wire or netting. I just can't have them being killed/terrified/tormented like this. It just breaks my heart. I know the hawk needs to eat but there are plenty of other things around here. I know my girls are easy...so I've just got to make it hard.... I am sorry to go on and on about it. If you'd just seen how terrified she was...

 

[Aphrael]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I know it would tear me up to lose any of my girls. My husband is always telling me that I worry too much and that hawks and owls aren't going to be a threat to my chickens. Well now I am even more determined to have a covered "Fort Knox" run for both my big girls and my newly arriving bantys. I hope Maybelle continues to improve and makes a full recovery. I think for just a couple days indoors they will likely be fine. Everything I have read says to lock chickens inside the coop when newly introduced to it so they learn it is home. I don't see that this would be any harder on them. Though I am sure they will be quite ready to get back outside when you return.

@Newfarmgirl - We have an indoor/outdoor cat who is quite the hunter and she has never bothered my ladies (so far). In fact I have seen her on several occasions sunning in the chicken run with 7 hens gathered all around and "tasting" her fur

. But that doesn't mean that some cats might not go after chickens. From what you described though it sounds more like maybe a weasel or some other beastie like that. I have no kind of firsthand knowledge about them, but it sounds like the kind of pointless destruction I have read of being attributed to them.

 

[Mygirls20]

My husband and I used deer fencing to cover our outdoor run. Not only is it cheap but easy to put up with zip ties. Also it kinda works as a trap I am all about letting wildlife be wild but it seems once they have the taste of chicken nothing ever stops then its time to get rid of the enemy. I have hawks they have never attacked a chicken but they do sit in the trees and watch them I think they know the fence is there and dont want to try getting in. If the hawk tries to attack again he will get stuck in the deer fencing and its so cheap its not that bad to replace. We got a roll 100 feet long by 7 feet wide for 20 bucks

So sorry for your loss hope you can get the situation revised quickly

 

[Mygirls20]

New farm girl... So sorry for your loss

I have heard of foxes killing as much as they can then taking the chickens out one at a time maybe that happened and you interrupted his run? I also know that sometimes skunks can come in looking for eggs and will kill the chickens but not eat them. If I were you I would get a trail cam just to see what you have on your property. Now that something has got in you need to fort knox your coop. I had my first loss 2-3weeks ago and spent a whole week putting up 3 layers of chicken wire on everything making sure I could even put my finger through the fence. Again sorry for your loss it could be a number of things that got in. I just think a skunk or fox would be the mostly likely what did the wounds look like? Also there is this amazing stuff I used it on my injured chicken and it helped so much she got all her skin torn off her wing and is back to normal. Its a spray gel called vetericyn Its like 35 a bottle. Also if you have a feed store near you you can also buy some powder livestock antiboitics you just put it in some water for them if they wont drink it give it to them in a dropper. Hope this helps

 

[chickster2012]

Da417
My heart goes out to you. I'm so sorry. I had a hawk almost get my white crested polish hen. I got out just in time to see the crows fight off a hawk that just scraped my girl. LOT'S of feathers. Checked on all my birds saw my hen picked her up she had a small scratch across her back. I have a open back yard so I went and bought black rods that you hang baskets or bird feeders on. I put those all in my back yard and hung cd's and foil pans up. Since I have done that have not seen any in my back yard. I see them fly around my house but none in the yard. We have a lot of crows that hang around. I know the feeling of a predator taking from you. I'm sorry

 

[chickster2012]

Cats are great I have one that is a great hunter. Sometimes it's as if she is protecting my chickens.

 

[centrarchid]

I really don't mean to hijack your post, but I am desperately trying to save the rest of my chickens. I posted earlier on another thread and didn't get much of a reply so I am going to try again:

ok..now that the shock is wearing off, I want to share my story and ask for advise. I got up this morning to find 2 of my hens and my Guinea dead in the chicken run. I have (had) a flock of 16 chickens and 1 Guinea. The Guinea and 10 of my hens were raised by me from chicks. Little miss Guinea thought she was a chicken and was very protective of the flock-always announcing trouble. We live on a farm and have all sorts of predators-hawks, owls,fox, dogs and cats that I have seen. Our chicken run is secured with 10 foot high fencing (2x4 inch hard wire), aviary netting on top, and chicken wire sunk 2 feet under ground. I haven't had any problem keeping them secure until now. After I cleaned up the bodies, I checked the perimeter. Nothing ground level was disturbed. The only chink in the armour I noticed was a a small 6 x 8 inch section of aviary netting that wasn't secured to the fence line. (the zip tie broke at a seam) and that was at the 10 feet mark-up the fence/run. The foxes haven't bothered trying to dig to get in as there seems to be ample rodents and rabbits around for them. Hawks will circle but not land. There IS the neighbors cat that runs wild and is always stalking around the coop. I'm thinking it may have jumped along the fence line and gotten in through that one unsecured spot. The condition of the birds leaves me confused. Guinea put up one heck of a fight. None of their meat was gone-just a lot of feathers. It is as if the kill was for sport. 7 of my remaining birds are in various shapes of injury. I have put probiotics in their water and moved the injured birds inside the coop to keep warm. All except 2 are drinking and willing to be hand fed mealworms. My questions for you out there, is could a cat have done this much damage? I don't mind the kill so much if the predator had eaten the ladies (circle of life...) but this seems senseless. I am in Northern Virginia and haven't seen other predators. Was it the cat? Can I put antibiotics in the ladies water- and if so- what and how much? Any help is greatly appreciated. Tonight I will close their trap door. I haven't had to do that in the 2 years I have had chickens.

to add to the post- my neighbors cat is basically ferral- it doesn't live indoors and they don't feed it. I have locked my remaing girls in the coop for the night and successfully administered antibiotic ointment to open wounds and gave some "[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]asprin" water- even by syringe to my hurting ladies. Any advise or wisdom is appreciated. Could it be weasels?[/FONT]

I think raccoon most likely. They can be messy killers and will take down a second or third victim before setling down to feed. If raccoon, then simply patching netting will not work. You may have to actually remove predator (shoot or trap and shoot). If you have any idea about when attack occured at night, then try to be awake at that time and listen for birds making a ruckus. Have a light rifle and flashlite to deal with varmint. Otherwise get a livetrap set and look into making so birds are harder to get to while roosting.

 

[newfarmgirl]

thanks for the advise. went out to open the coop this morning and more more of my ladies succumbed to her injuries. Its just heartbreaking, for sure. I think the predator got in the run first thing in the morning. My reasoning is this...all the girls sleep in the coop at night, and not a single feather was found in there. When I went out to the coop yesterday and saw the bodies, they weren't that cold. I didn't see any bites taken out of their flesh-just missing feathers everywhere. I think I will reinforce with some deer netting I have here-thanks for that tip. I also have my shotgun at the ready by the back door. Now if I can just wave a magic wand and make my injured ladies better. Glad you lady is doing better Da : )