Bad luck with chickens

[Egg_newton]

I've only been at this three weeks and my chickens keep getting maimed or killed! Stats so far. We've had one laying hen and one pullet killed by our dog and she has maimed two others. I nursed the pullet back to health and she has rejoined the flock. We lost another laying hen for a day and then found her hiding in the breeze way seemingly unharmed besides a bare back from having her feathers pulled out by the dog.

We heard some ruccus around three this morning and no signs of predators but this morning when I went to check on them I have a white rock pullet with a large bloody hole in the side of her neck (she is still alive) and my cockerel missing some feathers on his back. Could those two have gotten into to it and he put the big hole in her neck? They like to roost in a window that is covered with chicken wire. Or is it possible that a coon, weasel or something else climbed on top of the coop and grabbed a hold of her? I know it wasn't the dog because she was put up. It is just so much chicken drama in such a short amount of time.

I separated the injured pullet so the other birds didn't continue to pick at the wound. I was already late for work so didn't get to attend to her yet. It is all so discouraging.

 

[Little Ameraucana Mom]

I'm so sorry to hear this. We saw coon tracks by our chicken houses, so we set a live trap. Didn't get the coon, but we caught a ferrel cat. !!! LOL !! Hope you can get whatever is getting yours

 

[horsejody]

Chicken wire only stops chickens. It is not a barrier to most predators. Coons can rip it open or even reach through and grab what they want. You may want to to consider covering it with hardware cloth.

 

[Schultz]

Sorry about your chickens.
We have had 3 coon attacks here. The coon actually pulled the poor girls thru the chicken wire. Coons can and will climb and can get their nasty little mits into some pretty tiny places. I would set a trap!! I hope your chickens have a speedy recovery. Don't let the bad stuff discourage you, chickens can be such a great joy once you get the kinks out of the system.

 

[Egg_newton]

So, you don't think it could have been another chicken?

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
I've seen quite a few chicken-caused injuries - but never one leaving a deep puncture wound. Their beaks and neck muscles just aren't that strong. They cause injuries by repeated pecking.
Good luck catching the bad guy...Are you sure it wasn't the dog?

 

[pats4lsu]

Sounds indicative of a opossum.

 

[Egg_newton]

Yep, not the dog. She was locked up in the house. The wound isn''t as deep as I initally thought. At first look all those neck feathers made it appear deeper than it really is. But still don't think they are chicken related incidents. I put boards over the windows for tonight. I'm going to install hardware cloth tomorrow and leave the good dogs outside to ward off any intruders. Any other input would be apprecaited.