Blaming myself for the lose of my chickens.

[DEN3292022]

Today when I came home for my lunch break I was told by my family that something attacked my chickens last night. It looked like a fox got to my chickens. I had three chickens and only one of them made it that I know of which I am very thankful I still have her. My rooster died trying to defend himself and my hens and was truly a brave warrior. My hen Ember could still be out there alone and we haven't found her yet or it could be worse. I just can't help but blame myself because I only had chicken wire around their coop and kept putting off putting on the hardware cloth and I don't know how to not blame myself for losing my sweet babies. It's been a very hard day and I don't know how to feel anymore.

 

[topochico225]

Today when I came home for my lunch break I was told by my family that something attacked my chickens last night. It looked like a fox got to my chickens. I had three chickens and only one of them made it that I know of which I am very thankful I still have her. My rooster died trying to defend himself and my hens and was truly a brave warrior. My hen Ember could still be out there alone and we haven't found her yet or it could be worse. I just can't help but blame myself because I only had chicken wire around their coop and kept putting off putting on the hardware cloth and I don't know how to not blame myself for losing my sweet babies. It's been a very hard day and I don't know how to feel anymore.

Sounds like you learned a valuable lesson. So sorry for your losses. Hope you find Ember.

 

[SilverBirds]

I'm so sorry for your lose. Loss of flock members is probably the hardest part about owning chickens. It's easy to put off things when they don't seem important. All seems fine in chicken paradise, and then suddenly, disaster strikes. You never know when these types of things will happen. This was a hard, valuable lesson you learned. I hope your other girl is doing okay

 

[Battlepants]

The way I've been managing is looking at what I learned from the situation. For example, I lost one to a hawk, so I adapted and and now my entire flock has protected runs. The hawk has been back since but has only startled my chickens rather than taking another one.

Learn from what happened and honor their memory by serving the rest of your flock.

As for your missing hen, keep an eye outside, especially near sundown. If she's out there, she will likely make her way back.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

So sorry for your loss. I agree with other posters regarding lessons learned, but more important is to take action to prevent a recurrence. Covered run, hardware cloth apron. Set up a couple of game cams to know your local predator types, which may just surprise you.
I hope your hen finds her way home soon. (((Hugs)))