Can chicks sense predators???? Or are they just having me on???

[socks]

O.k. the scene at 9:30 tonigh as I brought my 5 /12 week old chicks from the tractor to the coop....they know the drill so there wasn't too much drama although the Americana/Leghorn crosses have been doing an awful lot of trying to jump out of the coop (top loading) lately but all of a sudden, they all started shrieking in horror and crowding into the corner so hard that I was afraid someone would get hurt. I went to the front of the coop to look in and shush them to calm but nothing doing! Then I opened the coop again to look around to see if something had snuck in there but nothing!

They continued to try to squeeze themselves into the corner and would've gone through the wall if they could have to get away from something???? I have never seen them react this way before and I was wondering if there was some coon or something around that they might be sensing???

And then I wondered.....well, they are 'chicken'

was it just all the changes in front of the coop .....we're building their run and so the view out the front of the coop is substantially different from what it was this morning when they left. Could this be it????
or........I remembered a Gary Larson carton where a couple of dogs are standing in front of a closet door with a little old lady sitting in a chair nearby and one of the dogs says something like 'When I want to freak out my human being I just stand in front of this closet and bark like crazy'.... I hope my chicks haven't learned to yank my chain like that!

Any ideas??? I left them a little calmer but I'm a little frazzled and am concerned about what the heck that might have been. I did also see some areas on the coop floor that need reinforcing but am trusting that the coons haven't discovered these guys yet....and will get it done before nightfall tomorrow.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

It's the Gary Larson thing. Now run outside and check on them once more.

 

[jelmer]

Could they be scared of you?

 

[Clay In Iowa]

If they could they'd run from me... yummmy chickens...

 

[socks]

Hate to say this but think it was the length of fishing line (used to secure some temporary netting) that I found in the coop this a.m. and now this afternoon after thinking everyone was fine I found an injury on my favourite chicks neck. It looks like the area has been worn or 'worried' by something (like a flipping piece of strong cord???). I feel horrible and just put up an urgent post for advice as the polysporin I put on it is causing her to scratch the area (which she was previously oblivious too)!!!!!!!

 

[chookchick]

It could just be the changes to the coop. When I put a new window in the baby coop they would not go in it the first night, hated it! Chickens hate change. I don't think they are bright enough to "psych" us out. (We love them that way)

 

[ivan3]

It could be something as prosaic as a slight change. But they might have sensed either ground vibration/low frequency sound that we are oblivious to.

Shortly after our chooks and turks transitioned to outside world (late June`05) we were sitting on the back deck steps and the poultry were all about preening and taking it easy before going to roost. It was quiet. Without so much as a prelude ALL of them stood as tall as they could, wings partially open, and started `screaming'. They couldn't be consoled and they didn't quit for several minutes (didn't run or move too much at all). I had the rifle handy, but there was nothing sneaking up on them. They stayed somewhat nervous until going to roost.

The date was July 4th. There was a big air show at the Regional Airport nearly fifteen miles to the south (lots of military iron in the sky). We heard nothing, but our best hypothesis is that they picked up on the infrasound/vibration caused by the F-whatevers at the show. We've never seen anything like this again. Maybe good for earthquakes???

 

[socks]

Well dang it if they didn't do another flip out tonight, not on as grand a scale (the one little girl is separated in our basement in a cushy pink playpen as she heals from her injuries....still not sure what caused them).

They squeeze into the corner and try to climb out of the coop or through the wall all the while making noises like horses whinneying. I put a cover over the coop so they couldn't see out and hopefully would instantly get drowsy (and whispered to them that they were feeling very sleepy...)

My husband says the run will be finished tomorrow (I really don't think so as we have now gotten to the picky part and oh...a couple of B & B guests are showing up.... gotta run now and do some laundry

Ivan3 that is very interesting about your birds....did you notice whether any other wild birds did anything similar???

 

[socks]

Crap! I feel sick, it is 12:44 a.m. and I have just attended to two other wounded birds, no necks this time and this time I know it was a predator because I slept in the treehouse near the coop and was awoken twice to their screaming. The first time I chased something away raccoon or feral cat? couldn't see except the glowing eyes in my flashlight. The second time I noticed blood on the coop floor and woke my husband to help. Two birds have missing toes and one of them also has a wound to the breast but maybe not so serious. I took them out and have all three birds now in my basement two of them in one container as they just wouldn't be separated (do you think they are likely to pick at each others wounds in the daylight? if so I must separate them).

I can't believe that a coon or whatever was able to get parts of them throught the 1/2 inch hardware cloth floor (we hadn't put a roost up yet and were going to hardware cloth an enclosure all around the raised floor but thought that was more of a precaution just so that they didn't get frightened by something that could get underneath them, didn't realize they had body parts sticking out that could get chewed off.

I am an awful mother, I feel so badly for my poor little creatures that I have done such a lousy job of protecting.

Just in case someone can help me with the first aid, I rinsed off the injured feet, sprayed with hydrogen peroxide (wasn't that liberal as my bottle was almost empty when I started but I think I got it covered) then after I got them settled I put Polysporin on the wounds including the chest area.

I'm going back out to the treehouse to TRY to sleep. Before we left them I put some rugging to cover the whole floor and my husband said he put some kind of enclosure around (but how he could do that adequately in the dark I don't know).

 

[ivan3]

Socks wrote: Just in case someone can help me with the first aid, I rinsed off the injured feet, sprayed with hydrogen peroxide (wasn't that liberal as my bottle was almost empty when I started but I think I got it covered) then after I got them settled I put Polysporin on the wounds including the chest area.

Peroxide (50%water to peroxide) will do in a pinch, but we use Betadine as it is effective and less harsh. Make sure to use topical antibiotic ointments that do not contain Lidocaine (could be fatal).

A raccoon would be `obsessed' enough to sit there and pick through hardware cloth, they are the bane of chooks (owners) and will test every defense to the limit and beyond.

I'm going back out to the treehouse to TRY to sleep. Before we left them I put some rugging to cover the whole floor and my husband said he put some kind of enclosure around (but how he could do that adequately in the dark I don't know).

I would suggest investing in a live trap to use, and place it away from the pen a bit.
Place it up off the ground and put a wt. on top; easy to clean/can't be tipped over:

Ivan3 that is very interesting about your birds....did you notice whether any other wild birds did anything similar???

That is an excellent question and I asked Cass if she remembered, but we're drawing a blank. That was SO unusual (kind of spooky) that we focused on our birds and the tree line (sure there was a pred).

I thought I'd mention this as well (Chickens and Stress). One of the reasons we keep three traps set, and we are Ft. `Knoxed', is owing to reduction of stress (dogs worrying layers/coons on the windows/roof of coop, etc., etc.).

Mondini S (1980). Cannibalism due to earthquake in laying hens after forced moult. [Cannibalismo (da terremoto?) in ovaiole da consumo in muta forzata]. Clinica Veterinaria 103(7): 456-458.
Ist. Allevamenti Zootecnici, Universita, Bologna, Italy NAL Call Number: 41.8 C61

When a previously successful method was used to induce moult in 7107 hens, 224 (3%) died in the following 10 days as a result of cannibalism. This had not occurred in the 400,000 already treated, the only difference this time being an earth tremor of intensity IV on the Mercalli scale on the day after moult induction.
Descriptors: etiology, disasters, moulting, cannibalism Copyright

2002, CAB International

From: http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/molting/molting.htm

Good luck to you!

ed:sp​