Chicken Nature or Homicidal Hen?

[ChickenCanoe]

Maybe instead of closing off every hole, make a smaller enclosure in the barn that's easier to secure?

X2
My neighbor has a big barn that he could never make predator proof. He usually loses his whole flock every year.

 

[AllynTal]

I agree with LG. Adult chickens are not killing your chicks. I'm sorry that hen was culled for simply getting 'caught' taking advantage of some fresh protein. Chickens can't see in dim light or nighttime darkness, so it isn't chickens killing anything overnight. Something is getting in and killing your chicks. Even though they free-range during the day, the chickens need more balanced nutrition in the form of feed. Scratch isn't nutritionally balanced, so while I suspect they may need their nutritional needs met, they aren't killing your chicks.

I'd make an enclosure out of 1/2-inch (or even 1/4-inch) hardware cloth -- top, sides, and bottom -- to house the chicks.

 

[Clov3r]

My adults roost in the rafters. Is there any real worry about weasels getting to them? The barn is secure against raccoons and skunks and such, but quarter sized holes are another thing entirely.

 

[Clov3r]

I'm sorry too about the hen. What's done is done. I'll do some reading into nutrition again, though I try to ensure that they're getting calcium and protein through scraps in addition to what they can forage.

I suppose we thought the slaughter happened in the early hour of the morning, as the bodies were limp and fresh still. I know, of course, that the chickens don't even come out of the rafters until daylight, as they can't see. The morning we pulled the hen, we were already pretty sure it had been either the rooster or that hen (she was mean to EVERYONE), and she was the only one on the ground. The chick wasn't completely dead, and she was going at it pretty hard. It was a convincing scene. That said, she was a gorgeous, big hen. Lesson learned, I guess.

 

[junebuggena]

http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/publications/opapers/ops/op182.pdf
This is a fairly complete list of all mammals in Texas, and includes their habitat/ranges. Weasel info can be found on page 13. And I agree with the others, your flock needs access to feed and it wasn't the adults that killed the chicks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I missed the part about the feed. They definitely need a more complete ration. As omnivores, they need higher content of essential amino acids that scratch doesn't have.
If all my chickens got to eat was scratch and free range, I wouldn't blame them for eating each other.

You can just assume that if there is an opening, a predator will eventually find it.
The only building I had that the first round of chicken killings had been spared, I assumed it was predator proof. I forgot that in the process of pulling wire to it for electricity, I had cut a 1" or so square in the hardware cloth on the floor of an external nest box. The floor is about 2 1/2' off the ground. One morning I found all chickens dead in the building. That square I cut was the only opening in the building.

 

[Clov3r]

I hear you guys on the feed. I'll be changing that as of today.

 

[AllynTal]

... The morning we pulled the hen, we were already pretty sure it had been either the rooster or that hen (she was mean to EVERYONE), and she was the only one on the ground.

Exerting her position in the pecking order is one thing, but being just plain mean is something different. If she was a bully, then it's just as well that she went to the crockpot. The flock will be more calm without her.

I have yet to see a barn that is truly raccoon-PROOF. I have watched full-grown and well-fed raccoons do some amazing acrobatics to get to amazingly small holes and then wriggle their way in. An adult raccoon led her babies hand-over-hand hanging from a clothesline across the yard to a shed and scampered onto the roof. She hung by one rear foot and dangled from the edge of the roof, then swung herself back and forth until she had enough swing to reach and grasp the top edge of the shed door. The gap above the door was barely 2 inches wide and she wiggled and wiggled until she got her whole well-fed body through the gap. Each of her babies, having watched her, followed suit until all of them were inside the shed. There was a tense moment when the last baby seemed to lose his grip on the top of the door and I held my breath, afraid that he would fall. But he didn't, and a moment later, he wriggled into the shed. The owner of that shed swore it was raccoon-proof, too, and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, he would still be arguing with me.

My point is not that you have raccoons. I don't know what your predator is; but instead of insisting that it is predator-proof, look at it very closely high and low and try to figure how anything could get inside. That includes the eaves and soffits, roof vents, gaps above doors, cupola, any opening no matter how high or seemingly inaccessible.

 

[Clov3r]

Exerting her position in the pecking order is one thing, but being just plain mean is something different. If she was a bully, then it's just as well that she went to the crockpot. The flock will be more calm without her.

I have yet to see a barn that is truly raccoon-PROOF. I have watched full-grown and well-fed raccoons do some amazing acrobatics to get to amazingly small holes and then wriggle their way in. An adult raccoon led her babies hand-over-hand hanging from a clothesline across the yard to a shed and scampered onto the roof. She hung by one rear foot and dangled from the edge of the roof, then swung herself back and forth until she had enough swing to reach and grasp the top edge of the shed door. The gap above the door was barely 2 inches wide and she wiggled and wiggled until she got her whole well-fed body through the gap. Each of her babies, having watched her, followed suit until all of them were inside the shed. There was a tense moment when the last baby seemed to lose his grip on the top of the door and I held my breath, afraid that he would fall. But he didn't, and a moment later, he wriggled into the shed. The owner of that shed swore it was raccoon-proof, too.

My point is not that you have raccoons. I don't know what your predator is; but instead of insisting that it is predator-proof, look at it very closely high and low and try to figure how anything could get inside. That includes the eaves and soffits, roof vents, gaps above doors, cupola, any opening no matter how high or seemingly inaccessible.

Well, no, I mean, I wouldn't be in disbelief if one got in. I work in Animal Services, I've seen some coons do some crazy things and pulled some out of some crazy places. Clever little turds. I guess I mean that I'm reasonably sure I'd see some damage or sign of a raccoon breaking in, they shouldn't be able to wiggle into any of the openings we have, unless it was a baby. But, this is why I posted here, so I could get some insight from others. We've had raccoons happen to us over the years, it's always a pretty dramatic scene. :/

 

[Clov3r]

Updates: went and bought layer feed rather than scratch. Also set two live traps: one inside of the barn, and one at the most likely point of entry to the barn. The last 4 chicks we have left are stationed in the laundry room for the night. Let's see if we get anything.