I have used BYC for a lot of information. I am needing a little bit of help. This is the first time I have actually posted, so I will try to explain my situations with as much information as possible. Also, I was not sure where this actually fit. It has both disease and predators involved, and thank you for any advice you can give.
We started with chickens about 7 years ago. My sons 1st grade class hatched chickens and he was allowed to have one. So of course we had to go to the local feed store and buy two more (one for each daughter). We researched how much run and coop space that our chickens would need to live happily. My husband built an awesome chicken tractor for me. We have had issues with dogs in the past, so they are in their tractor unless we are home. Other than one snake, we haven't had any issues with predators, till last night. I will explain that part in a bit. Our chicks were growing and doing great. We ended up with two hens and a rooster. He was great till one day he wasn't. He became mean. I know that he was trying to protect his flock, but he had to go. So, we went through the LONG process of introducing a new hen. So for about 5 years, my hens were great.
They were doing so well I wanted to add to our flock. Since we designed the first coop for 3 chickens and the pain of introduce new birds to an established flock, I bought another coop. And three new chicks. All has been well for almost two years, until about 3 weeks ago.
It started with what I call my big chickens (the first 3 we started with). I went out to do our evening chores and noticed that one of my red hens was standing by the water kinda funny. Her tail wasn't up, she looked like she wasn't feeling well. I thought it might be the heat or her age. The temperatures had really started to climb, like 105 heat index. I go out the next morning and she is dead in the run. I was still thinking it may have been heat or old age. Then about a week later, one of my younger (they are probably about two years old)hens Ellie, started acting sick. I began researching diseases and thought she may have coccidiosis. I contacted our vet and picked up some corid. I came home and got it mixed up and put in their water. The vet said to treat all of them in her run since they were probably all exposed. Well not an hour later I went out, my Ellie was dead in the run. I thought maybe I didn't catch the disease in time.
My coops are not near each other, but now we are down to 2 hens in each coop. I read that coccidiosis can be in the soil and that the sun helps kill it. Ellie's coop was under a big tree with lots of shade. So I let my hens out and my husband, son and I moved and cleaned the coop. Both Red and Amera , my 2 remaining young hens, acted totally normal that evening. We put them up for the night. And I kept them on the corid. The next day when I get home, my beloved Red is dead in her coop. At this point I didn't know what else to do but hope the disease doesn't wipe out my whole flock.
That was last week. So far I hadn't lost any more, I was starting to think maybe they corid is working. Then today I went out to check that both coops had water and find that the door to my big chickens run is open. Both hens are gone and there are feathers all over in the run. I think It was partly my fault because I forgot to put the clip back in the latch last night when I feed them. I am still upset with myself for that. From everything I looked at and found it appears that it was raccoons. I think it was more than one because it looked like baby coon tracks as well as adult size tracks. I followed the trail of feathers and found the tracks in our horse stall.
So after that big long story. My question is when and how should I introduce more chickens to my remaining hen/Amera? Since I do not know for sure what disease was killing them, I don't know how long until it is safe for chicks? And will she be ok if it is just her, does she need other chickens? Thank you again for your advice.
We started with chickens about 7 years ago. My sons 1st grade class hatched chickens and he was allowed to have one. So of course we had to go to the local feed store and buy two more (one for each daughter). We researched how much run and coop space that our chickens would need to live happily. My husband built an awesome chicken tractor for me. We have had issues with dogs in the past, so they are in their tractor unless we are home. Other than one snake, we haven't had any issues with predators, till last night. I will explain that part in a bit. Our chicks were growing and doing great. We ended up with two hens and a rooster. He was great till one day he wasn't. He became mean. I know that he was trying to protect his flock, but he had to go. So, we went through the LONG process of introducing a new hen. So for about 5 years, my hens were great.
They were doing so well I wanted to add to our flock. Since we designed the first coop for 3 chickens and the pain of introduce new birds to an established flock, I bought another coop. And three new chicks. All has been well for almost two years, until about 3 weeks ago.
It started with what I call my big chickens (the first 3 we started with). I went out to do our evening chores and noticed that one of my red hens was standing by the water kinda funny. Her tail wasn't up, she looked like she wasn't feeling well. I thought it might be the heat or her age. The temperatures had really started to climb, like 105 heat index. I go out the next morning and she is dead in the run. I was still thinking it may have been heat or old age. Then about a week later, one of my younger (they are probably about two years old)hens Ellie, started acting sick. I began researching diseases and thought she may have coccidiosis. I contacted our vet and picked up some corid. I came home and got it mixed up and put in their water. The vet said to treat all of them in her run since they were probably all exposed. Well not an hour later I went out, my Ellie was dead in the run. I thought maybe I didn't catch the disease in time.
My coops are not near each other, but now we are down to 2 hens in each coop. I read that coccidiosis can be in the soil and that the sun helps kill it. Ellie's coop was under a big tree with lots of shade. So I let my hens out and my husband, son and I moved and cleaned the coop. Both Red and Amera , my 2 remaining young hens, acted totally normal that evening. We put them up for the night. And I kept them on the corid. The next day when I get home, my beloved Red is dead in her coop. At this point I didn't know what else to do but hope the disease doesn't wipe out my whole flock.
That was last week. So far I hadn't lost any more, I was starting to think maybe they corid is working. Then today I went out to check that both coops had water and find that the door to my big chickens run is open. Both hens are gone and there are feathers all over in the run. I think It was partly my fault because I forgot to put the clip back in the latch last night when I feed them. I am still upset with myself for that. From everything I looked at and found it appears that it was raccoons. I think it was more than one because it looked like baby coon tracks as well as adult size tracks. I followed the trail of feathers and found the tracks in our horse stall.
So after that big long story. My question is when and how should I introduce more chickens to my remaining hen/Amera? Since I do not know for sure what disease was killing them, I don't know how long until it is safe for chicks? And will she be ok if it is just her, does she need other chickens? Thank you again for your advice.
I'm not an expert but I think when getting new chickens you should separate them for a few weeks in a different coop. I hope This helps!
