14 of my 15 died :(

[Gallagherfarm]

Been there, done that. No leash law at our old property and neighbor dogs raided often. Now, we have Livestock Guardian Dogs and I can free range and not shut birds in the coop. They let nothing in. We saw a coyote once--but only his butt. The dogs tore him in half when he didn't back off.

I highly recommend Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherds! (correctly started) I hope you figure out what got them so you know how to better protect the next batch.
Sorry!

 

[SoFluffy]

That is so sad...hope your surviving RIR is okay, good luck hatching those eggs

 

[Nhiawa]

Quote:
you mean "something sh!t happens..." lol

it does...but it hits home when these are chicks you raised from eggs....I helped some of these hatch, and helped they grow.

If i'd just went and bough 15 birds that were laying, it might be different. But, these lil suckers thought I was mom. So, it is a bit harder.

BUT...I"m hoping the 32 I have ready to hatch anyday now is healthy and will help me start new.

my whole coop was murdered one night by rats/weasels.... i feel their pain

 

[punkgirrl]

Wow I am sorry. I know that can be hard. But just don't think of the big killers. You will get all protected from the large then a snake will come in and kill off some. It is hard to keep these guy safe as everyone loves chicken.
But of luck with the new eggs!

 

[miraclz5]

So sorry for your loss! We have started with chicks the end of March and our oldest chicks are 2 1/2 months old. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to lose all but one. My greatest threat and fear of attack is from 2 neighborhood dogs that frequently run loose. We live in a VERY small town, but enough "in town" that we have little threat from other predators except and occasional skunk or raccoon. My chicks are in lockdown at nighttime. Given the fact that a very high percentage of attacks are from dogs, my run is going to be like Fort Knox. In all the research and reading I have done, hardware cloth is really the best way to go, using screws to attach it as some predators can just rip the staples out. I would also suggest some getting some feedback regarding the electric...I have not read that that is usually too affective for most critters....over or under it....Good Luck!!!!!

Again, so sorry for your loss!!!!!

 

[Le Mitzer]

That sucks, BIG time.
And you are sure that is was something that got in? If so you need to find out how, like it has been stated before chicken wire is just to weak, which I'm my opinion, is uber stupid why name something, that you should never use for the thing it was named after.

But for my run I used welded wire, just under 6 feet tall and along the bottom I line the fenching with giant stones so nothing can get under. I.e. Mygolden retriver Ladybird
Once again I'm very sorry about your loss
*sending good luck your way on the new hatchling*

 

[tiffanyg2]

Ahhhhh I'm so sorry for all the babies you lost... I really hope you can find what did this. I'm glad that you have the eggs so you can hatch more babies

 

[tryingtohaveitall]

That's terrible. I'm so sorry.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I am really sorry about your losses! That is horrible.

Keep your chin up, things will get better. I hope everything goes well with the hatch. Good luck.

 

[Nicole01]

I'm so very sorry for your loss.

. I love my chickens too and would be devistated to lose the entire flock.

We built a room in our garage for our coop. It's 100% predator and people safe when both doors are closed. It's worked out great so far. We have our run right outside the door, but the downside is we need to provide adequate shading for them. We made it this way due to so many predators out there, even black bears roam here. We live in a pretty heavily wooded area.

I hope you can fix and secure, so nothing can get in. I keep reading that these predators are very clever and find the weak spots to get in.

It also wouldn't surprise me if a person did this either. There are a lot of people who do not like chickens.