The perpetrator has been identified.
This morning my husband looked out the window and saw a hawk perched on our fence, directly above the scene of yesterday's crime. It was clearly waiting for another meal.
Thank you all for your comments!
Yes, hawk does seem likely. We have them around here. A few years ago with another flock, my husband actually saw a hawk sitting on a fence post, watching our chickens in the run. The hawk eventually flew away, and we figured it decided our run was too short...
My kids are devastated. :(
It was a pullet, ranging in my backyard which has a 4-ft tall fence. This attack happened during daylight, probably around 3-4pm.
Carcass was still there. Feathers were plucked and laying around body. Head missing, some innards (heart, liver) eaten, but gizzard and...
Well, there COULD be a roo in the area. I live in farm country. My cousin has a rooster that free ranges, but it's about 1/4 mile away.
One does kind of look like a bullseye. Honestly, I've never noticed these spots in my eggs before, and suddenly they're showing up, and they're really really...
I don't have a rooster, but my hens free range. Lately, my eggs have had these little circular spots in them. I seem to recall someone mentioning that this was the sign of a fertilized egg. But, like I said, I don't have a rooster! What do you think?
My red sexlink hasn't laid an egg for 5 days. She used to lay every single day without fail. All the other birds (EE, Australorp, Prod Red) continue to lay as usual.
She doesn't look ill. She eats fine, runs over and digs in when I toss scraps, is the first to jump over the fence to free range...
...assuming you had water and could cook as usual (you just couldn't go to the store and buy more food), how long would you and your family be able to eat?
Two of my chickens are laying soft-shelled eggs. I've heard that upping calcium can help. I've tried giving them a bowl of oyster shell, mixing oyster shell in their feed, and scattering oyster shell in their run. No dice. They just turn their beaks up at it. I know I could grind up eggshells...
I have a flock of five hens, four of which should be laying. Up until yesterday, they free ranged all day long. There are 2 nest boxes for the birds.
I was averaging 1-2 eggs per day and couldn't figure out the deal. Didn't spy any nests in the areas they tended to congregate when they ranged...
I got this chicken in a mixed batch of "brown egg layer" chicks. As a chick, it was a rust color and then developed black streaks. (I included two pictures of it as a chick below)
It's about 22 weeks old now. In the photo, it's standing next to a red sex link that's about 2 weeks younger for...
I only have 5 chickens, so not enough to sell my eggs. But I might sometimes have a dozen or half dozen to give as hostess gifts, etc. What's a pretty way to package them?
I was thinking in a small basket lined with a pretty dishtowel. Any other suggestions?
Well, I got another olive green one today. The blue/green one was a first, so maybe it was a fluke from the EE and she's going to lay olive ones from now on.
I have 5 birds: an australorp, a red sexlink, a welsummer (I think), an easter egger, and a maran mix. The maran is young and is definitely not laying yet.
So far I have found eggs sporadically in the nest boxes (I actually think they may be laying some eggs in the woods next door to me where...
I have a flock of 5 birds. Last week, one of them started laying. I got 4 hard eggs for four days in a row. The next two days, the eggs I got were soft-shelled/rubbery. (I do supplement their feed with oyster shell.) For three days now, I haven't gotten any eggs at all.
Is this normal for a...
My chickens are "accidentally" free range. (They have a fenced yard, but every morning they fly over the fence and spend the whole day in the field/woods beside me.) As far as I know, they haven't started laying yet, but I expect they will soon (they were born April 10, give or take).
I tried...
For various reasons (i.e. discovered some roosters among the group), I've had to integrate new hens into my flock.
First, I had 3 chickens and added 2 more for a total of 5. I tried to separate the newbies, but they kept flying into the run with the rest of the birds, so I just let them go...