glenwolde
Chirping
My 4 chicken babies are almost 4 months old. (no roosters) They look beautiful with no issues at all. Saturday morning, I went out to feed them and let them free range in the back yard and all 4 chickens had their combs ripped. I searched through their coop and run and couldn't find anything sharp. I thought maybe they put their heads through something and scraped it on the way out. I searched for answers through Google, You Tube, and my "Raising Chickens for Dummies" book. We cleaned the injuries with hot water and soap, then rubbing alcohol. Sadly, we had to cut off the hanging combs on 3 of the chickens. The chickens did great. I treated them with an antibiotic spray. I was worried about them pecking each other, but it didn't happen - maybe because they all had injuries.
That evening, the chickens didn't want to go in the coop. The chicken with the biggest injury flew into a window and then the storm door trying to get inside the house, and had blood dripping from her head. My poor baby was scared to be outside at night! I treated her new injury and put her in a cat carrier for the night in the garage and she was content. My wonderful, smart husband put up a video camera to see if there was any activity going on at the coop at night. I like to treat my chicken babies to watermelon, cherries, grapes, vegetables, and sometimes scrambled eggs. We live in a neighborhood and wasn't expecting to see a raccoon! The video showed the raccoon trying to get inside the coop, trying to reach inside, and frightening my chickens. The chickens were flying around the small chicken run and hitting their heads on the chicken wire ceiling. It was heart breaking.
My husband and I bought a trap to catch the raccoon and we will call Animal Control to have it re-located. We are putting all 4 chickens in crates in the garage until all predators are caught. I wanted to tell this story in case any one else finds the combs ripped on top of their chickens heads.
That evening, the chickens didn't want to go in the coop. The chicken with the biggest injury flew into a window and then the storm door trying to get inside the house, and had blood dripping from her head. My poor baby was scared to be outside at night! I treated her new injury and put her in a cat carrier for the night in the garage and she was content. My wonderful, smart husband put up a video camera to see if there was any activity going on at the coop at night. I like to treat my chicken babies to watermelon, cherries, grapes, vegetables, and sometimes scrambled eggs. We live in a neighborhood and wasn't expecting to see a raccoon! The video showed the raccoon trying to get inside the coop, trying to reach inside, and frightening my chickens. The chickens were flying around the small chicken run and hitting their heads on the chicken wire ceiling. It was heart breaking.
My husband and I bought a trap to catch the raccoon and we will call Animal Control to have it re-located. We are putting all 4 chickens in crates in the garage until all predators are caught. I wanted to tell this story in case any one else finds the combs ripped on top of their chickens heads.
