chicken massacre

[mamahenny]

Last night i forgot to close up the coop. (actually one person thought the other closed the coop and vice versa.) I had about 20 chickens yesterday and now i have three. I am really sad. I want to protect my remaining three hens. The only trace of most of my chickens is simply a line of feathers that stops suddenly though there is little sign of something eating it. One chicken was a little far away from the coop lying on his back with his head cut off. When we flipped him over, his whole backside had been chewed up. I am wondering if it is a possiblity that some chickens got away or if it is most likey they were all eaten. It seems as if the one with his head off points to raccoon but the missing ones point to fox. (we have a lot of foxes in the area) Earlier in the month a similiar attack happened but there was only one dead and like the chicken that tried to get away, only his head was eaten. Does anyone know what it was?

 

[Kittymomma]

I don't have any words of wisdom for you, but wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.

I wouldn't be surprised if at least a few turn up, they probably scattered to the winds during the attack. If they are used to being given treats you might try to coax them back by calling and throwing some treats around. I'm sure they're very scared so it may take a little while. Please post updates on anymore clues you come across or missing birds finding their way home.

 

[Imp]

So sorry.

They can find some pretty tight places to hide. If you start looking search every nook & cranny, even if you think it's too small.

Imp

 

[ivan3]

Sorry for your loss. I'd guess fox. Should be easy enough to determine: Check for feathers along fence lines, any drainages. If it was fox they will have cached it within a couple hundred yards of the kill. And the den is usually within a couple hundreds of the cache.

That many missing would suggest more than one.

You probably have several species of chicken eating vermin in the area.

All I can suggest (beyond six foot welded wire run fencing, plenty of hardware cloth and armed supervised free ranging) is that preemptive retirement of chicken eating vermin will not eliminate predation, but will sure decrease the overall frequency of same.

Good luck and, again, sorry about your girls.

 

[chickerdoodle]

I am sooo sorry for your loss.

 

[mamahenny]

Thank you all for your love.
The day of the attack I was outside with treats when all of the sudden one little hen came from behind the bush. I was overjoyed! She was hungry and terrified. I did some searching for a fox den or cache to prove this theory but none has been found. I will keep searching!

 

[chickensioux]

How terribly sad....so sorry for all your losses.

 

[Freebie]

I too forgot to close up one night. Lost all but 3, then found one of the little chicks a few days later. Still alive and running around the pig pen. It is so heartbreaking I know. But I don't think I have forgotten to close up since then. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you find more about the place.

 

[mamahenny]

I am excited and nervous at the same time!
A hen has just appeared in the coop. I picked her up and found a wound on her breast. I t is a deep round puncture wound. I don't know very much about chicken first aid and need some help. I don't have any "chicken" vetirnary supplies. Does anyne have a solution? The wound is larger than a silver dollar if that helps.

 

[schmije]

I'm sorry for your loss. We had a dog get in our coop and kill several of our chickens last winter. One of our missing girls showed up in our barn over a WEEK later! She was missing some feathers and limping a little, but we were thrilled to have her home. Maybe some more of yours will come out of hiding in the next few days.