I was just about to post a similar question about cats. We came home this afternoon to find one of the pullets missing. I found a few feathers on the ground, but no other signs. My daughter crawled under the deck and found the poor thing dead. I don't want to be too graphic (and to tell the truth, I couldn't bring myself to look at the poor thing for more than a few seconds). I think the chicken's neck was broken and part of her underneath was missing. She was a beautiful Gold Laced Wyndotte that belonged to my son.
We think it was a feral cat that roams around in the backyard and wood-sy part of the property. We saw him sitting at the top of the driveway when we pulled in. It was late afternoon, so I don't think raccoon or fox. The run doesn't have a roof, so a cat could climb or jump up the four-foot fence. Any thoughts? Do you think it was the cat? The chickens are young (we only just put them outside fulltime on Sunday night. They are almost six weeks old, so fully feathered, but not so big.
In retrospect, we probably shouldn't have left them alone outside while we were gone, but it was a beautiful day and we weren't gone that long. (Please be kind and don't tell me how stupid it was to leave them outside when they are so young. I feel bad enough as it is. I still have to tell my son (who had to go out again as soon as we got home...) what happened and that makes me feel even worse.
Another question I have is do you think the other chicken will be okay living alone for a few weeks. I don't mean safe from predators, I mean will she be lonely. The rest of the chicks are still in the brooder and won't be ready to move outside for about two weeks. I thought maybe it might work to put the two-week old chicks in the coop and only let them outside into the run when we can supervise. They don't need the heat lamp and the temperture at night has consistantly been 50' or higher.
This is our first time raising chickens and everything was going so well. I feel like I really failed....
Thanks for reading.
We think it was a feral cat that roams around in the backyard and wood-sy part of the property. We saw him sitting at the top of the driveway when we pulled in. It was late afternoon, so I don't think raccoon or fox. The run doesn't have a roof, so a cat could climb or jump up the four-foot fence. Any thoughts? Do you think it was the cat? The chickens are young (we only just put them outside fulltime on Sunday night. They are almost six weeks old, so fully feathered, but not so big.
In retrospect, we probably shouldn't have left them alone outside while we were gone, but it was a beautiful day and we weren't gone that long. (Please be kind and don't tell me how stupid it was to leave them outside when they are so young. I feel bad enough as it is. I still have to tell my son (who had to go out again as soon as we got home...) what happened and that makes me feel even worse.
Another question I have is do you think the other chicken will be okay living alone for a few weeks. I don't mean safe from predators, I mean will she be lonely. The rest of the chicks are still in the brooder and won't be ready to move outside for about two weeks. I thought maybe it might work to put the two-week old chicks in the coop and only let them outside into the run when we can supervise. They don't need the heat lamp and the temperture at night has consistantly been 50' or higher.
This is our first time raising chickens and everything was going so well. I feel like I really failed....
Thanks for reading.
