chicken crime scene!

[alica31]

Wednesday I left the house for around 2 hours to take my father to an appointment and when I returned, there were several missing chicks! I HAD 23 super friendly, free rangers--my neighbor even posted pics of the girls at her front door! But I died a little when I saw feathers in back and realized they didn't come when called. I searched and called for hours by sundown 3 were MIA and 2 were dead. Waaaahhhhh! What a sad day!
2 others are missing all or most of it's tail feathers---which made me think someones dog may have been catching them.
What can I put on the injured rump? Neosporin or blukote?
a beautiful EE looks like she has a broken wing. will she recover??

 

[earlybird10842]

Wednesday I left the house for around 2 hours to take my father to an appointment and when I returned, there were several missing chicks! I HAD 23 super friendly, free rangers--my neighbor even posted pics of the girls at her front door! But I died a little when I saw feathers in back and realized they didn't come when called. I searched and called for hours by sundown 3 were MIA and 2 were dead. Waaaahhhhh! What a sad day!
2 others are missing all or most of it's tail feathers---which made me think someones dog may have been catching them.
What can I put on the injured rump? Neosporin or blukote?
a beautiful EE looks like she has a broken wing. will she recover??

Sorry about your hens!
It could be a dog, raccoon, 'possum, or any other predator. Ask your neighbors about what they saw in your yard around the time you were gone, and look for tracks and droppings. That will give you an idea what the predator is. Look around for the three MIA--traumatized chickens will hide. Look behind bushes, ect.

 

[alica31]

Thank you for the advice & condolences.
I will keep looking

and ask around.

 

[megalomaniac]

sounds like a dog to me. They get a real thrill out of killing just for the sake of killing. Last dog attack I had was 2 years ago, and 3 big dogs tore through welded wire fence to get into a run with 19 chickens. They killed 8, mortally wounded another 6 that I had to finish off, and the other 5 survived, only 3 intact. I didn't find the healthy chickens until the next day- they were so terrified they had hidden in the woods. one of the ones that was injured actually had a chuck of skin and flesh torn from her rump. With a little TLC in isolation, she actually made a full recovery.

 

[alica31]

how tragic! I know you do not want a repeat of an attack! are your's still free range? I am scared to let mine out again!

 

[megalomaniac]

mine were NOT free ranging when the dogs got to them... they tore through a welded wire fence to get into the run for the slaughter. If they were free ranging, I probably would have had more survive as the flock could have scattered in all directions and find cover. As it was, they didn't stand a chance once the dogs got into the run and pinned the majority against the fence for the kills.

 

[DianaMallory]

mine were NOT free ranging when the dogs got to them... they tore through a welded wire fence to get into the run for the slaughter. If they were free ranging, I probably would have had more survive as the flock could have scattered in all directions and find cover. As it was, they didn't stand a chance once the dogs got into the run and pinned the majority against the fence for the kills.

That sounds like some very determend dogs! But how did they get in your yard?

 

[megalomaniac]

not wanting to hijack the thread, sorry to OP for this.

my yard is not fenced in, just my chicken runs. It took a couple days of searching, but I finally found the dogs belonged to someone about a mile away. Nice people, problem is thier 19y/o at home son is a drug addict. When mom and pop went on a cruise, dopehead junior was left to care for the dogs. He just turned them loose. Unfortunately, they made it across the highway to my neighborhood without getting hit by cars. The three of them together brought out the hunting pack instinct in them and they had a ball.

I didn't push the issue just in case the dogs had to disappear in the future, but they haven't been back since that incident. It is a heartbreaker to raise up birds from incubated eggs to the point of lay, then have the flock decimated

 

[earlybird10842]

not wanting to hijack the thread, sorry to OP for this.

my yard is not fenced in, just my chicken runs. It took a couple days of searching, but I finally found the dogs belonged to someone about a mile away. Nice people, problem is thier 19y/o at home son is a drug addict. When mom and pop went on a cruise, dopehead junior was left to care for the dogs. He just turned them loose. Unfortunately, they made it across the highway to my neighborhood without getting hit by cars. The three of them together brought out the hunting pack instinct in them and they had a ball.

I didn't push the issue just in case the dogs had to disappear in the future, but they haven't been back since that incident. It is a heartbreaker to raise up birds from incubated eggs to the point of lay, then have the flock decimated

I've had some dog issues in the past, but never to that extent!

 

[alica31]

I've never seen any dog in my yard. I thought something must have been chasing and catching my chickens for the sport since none of mine were mauled or eaten. I think the young ones died of fear!!! made me really angry