7 wk old chick. Possibly attacked by a mouse?!

TheChickenGirl16

‘Lil Peepers Egg and Dairy Farm
Premium Feather Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2025
Messages
1,251
Reaction score
4,425
Points
381
Hey guys!
I have some chickers who hatched on January 27th, so they’re just over seven wks old now.

This little guy has always been a bit smaller than the others, but not unhealthy seeming, or anything. Just kinda the runt of the batch.

Well, they’ve been outside for a few weeks now, and I actually had two of them go missing for some reason that I don’t know. (I’m assuming they escaped the pen, and got stolen by a hawk or smt.🤷‍♀️) but everyone else seems strong and healthy.

…until today. I saw this little missy sitting around a bit more than usual this morning. Still eating and stuff, just hanging back from everyone. No ruffled feathers, or weird poo.
They’ve been sorta reluctant to go to bed these last few days, and I’ve had to physically put them away one at a time. So I thought that was kinda off…
Then, during lockup tonight, I saw her just laying out on the ground.
So I picked her up to bring her inside, inspecting her on the way in. And found this:

If she DID get bitten by a mouse, do y’all think she could have contracted a disease?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1698.jpeg
    IMG_1698.jpeg
    795.3 KB · Views: 13
  • IMG_1701.jpeg
    IMG_1701.jpeg
    893.1 KB · Views: 3
  • IMG_1700.jpeg
    IMG_1700.jpeg
    592.4 KB · Views: 3
She is eating and drinking normally, but prefers sitting instead of standing at the feeder.
Everything else about her seems normal.
I treated her with some Vetericyn+ on the wound, and she is resting now.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1702.jpeg
    IMG_1702.jpeg
    663.2 KB · Views: 3
  • IMG_1703.jpeg
    IMG_1703.jpeg
    1.1 MB · Views: 3
I would suspect another chicken before I would suspect a mouse. What is your setup like? Were they going to roost themselves before the other two went missing? Are rats a possibility?
 
I would suspect another chicken before I would suspect a mouse. What is your setup like? Were they going to roost themselves before the other two went missing? Are rats a possibility?
They had been roosting for a week or so, before the others went missing, (about 3 days apart from each other). That was about two weeks ago.

Rats could be a possibility… but I’ve only ever seen mice out there. (Probably scouting for any possibly dropped food, or collecting feathers for their nests.)

I feel like the setup is pretty good… it’s a bigger sized run w/ wire coming down and out a foot and lined with rocks.
But a mouse could fit through the holes.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom