4 chickens found dead one at a time

[Leannetimm]

We had 4 chickens having good life in our place, freerange in the large garden, next to wilderness. Recently I had to move around my mobile chicken house and these lead to have 2 chickens being caught by fox a little be off night time. Then I relocated the house to the original place and baugth 2 young chickens to replace. After 24h, a new one was found dead on the morning without any wound. Then the second new one followed the next morning. 3 days later, this morning, a third one was found dead in the chicken house. She was not 3 years old and used to be the friendly one, regular egg layer (not yesterday though). There is only one survivor, looks fine (feather, appetite, laying egg, etc) but a bit lonely. I toroughly cleaned the chickenhouse today but I am not sure what to do next. Do I add more chickens or maybe wait for a month, see what happens to the last one? please any help ?

 

[50-45-1]

Well obvisously, your chicken house is not being locked at night or there is a hole where something is getting in at night.
You dont list where you live but most of us in the USA will have fox, coyote, racoon, oposum, bobcat, neighbors dog, owl, rat, weasel.....etc.
All of these are possiblities in your case.
Chickens are compleetly defenseless at night.
I would suggest goung over your coop carefully and looking for any gap or hole and fixing it ASAP or i dont give her much hope.
Maybe concider rehoming her to a safer location.
Sorry for your chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

How large are the openings in your chicken house or mobile coop? Unless you are using 1/2 inch hardware cloth, a raccoon can reach through and grab chickens to kill them. Also a weasel can go through a 1 inch opening such as in chicken wire or a gap between a door and an opening, or uneven spot in the ground. I would go over the entire coop and look for any opening even small, that a predator can get inside.

 

[ArthurLedd]

I am sorry for your loss I would be glad to give you a hen or 2 to help replenish your coop I am from western PA.

 

[cheekychick3]

Hi There.
So so sorry, for your loss. It is horrible when we lose our babies. You said, a fox,
took 2 when you moved their coop. Yeh, we all heard the saying (SLY AS A FOX. GRRRR)
And how true, that is they are so crafty. 5 yrs ago we too had a fox wipe out 16 of ours.
It was my stupidity as one night i had not locked them in their coop. What a site, he got over 6ft wall, but could not get them back over. they were to heavy. We were heartbroken, it took 5 yrs before we replaced ours, but in March, decided to buy more.
My husband built a double coop and large run further down the garden. Joke was we
did not even know there were foxes around here. For 7yrs we locked them up every night. Until that one night we did not, and paid the price. Did you lock yours up at
night. ???? Or did the fox find a way to get in for them. ????? As what happened to
your last 3 has baffled me. Did that fox come back, and they passed with shock. You
said there was no blood or wounds either. Really strange and if they were sick, you would have noticed. My heart goes out to you both, going through it all. I cannot answer what
happened to the other 3 only if that fox did show up, and they passed with shock. Plus
something disturbed the fox, and that is why he left them. I am sure you will have others
with their opinion on here soon, to help you. As for you waiting, that is up to you both.
All i know, i let 5yrs pass by, until we bought more. In which i truly wish we had done it
sooner. I have 12 hens,(not allowed Roosters) mores the pity. lol Even though loads,
do not lock their coops at night, i do because what happened 5yrs ago. I leave my girls free range in the garden, but i am also with them, too. You say your girl is lonely, in
which she would be, but only you can make that choice. If i had been left a few, 5yrs
ago when that fox wiped them out, i think it would not have taken 5yrs before we
bought more. However seeing the mess he left, upset me so much, (plus i blamed
myself) for not locking them up. That is why it took so long. Even though, our coops /run is like Fort knox lol i still lock them in every night. If you do decide not to wait,
check your coop is secure, and move it near where you can keep an eye out. We brought ours further down the garden, plus our run has a roof. We live in UK so
the only predator is a fox, as we live in a village, but still want to make sure. lol
Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can put your location in your profile, and there may be someone near you who has a possible companion that they might be able to rehome. I would try to get everything predator-proofed before getting more chickens. Butyour hen will get lonely without a companion. In fall, many breeders decide to thin out their flocks before winter. There are state threads where this sort of contact can be made.

 

[50-45-1]

I see you are in france now.
Aside from a fox i see you also have martin. I have attached a good article on pine martin for you to read. It will help you determine if that is what is getting your chickens. It will not need a very large hole to get in your coop.
https://www.raising-happy-chickens.com/pine-marten.html
Good luck!