death by ratsnake

[Sweetgum]

Hello all,
I've been checking out the forums for a while now and just decided to join tonight, mainly for moral support!
Our bantam Cochin, Hex, just hatched out another brood on Saturday. It's here second this year, & she's such a good mom. Just a little while ago, I heard a ruckus outside and ran out to find that a large rat snake had gotten into her brooder cage and only one chick was left alive. Hex and surviving chick are now inside and secure, and we'll make that coop snakeproof tomorrow (thought it already was...) What I'm wondering is, if I were to maybe order some chicks in the mail, do you think she would accept some replacement babies? Or do you think she'll be content with one?

 

[Cetawin]

You would have to get new ones to you ASAP...if they are too old there is no way she would accept them.

Sorry you lost your babies.

 

[Linda in San Diego]

So sorry about your babies.

 

[peapickinchicks]

Oh I'm so sorry about your loss. BTW

 

[hoosier]

Welcome to BYC. Sorry your first post turned out to be about your loss. We will look forward to hearing from you in happier times.

 

[sillybirds]

I'm so sorry about your chicks getting killed by a snake! That's sad

(I lost all ten of my about 3 week old chicks who were massacred in their brooder in my garage, probably my dog.)

Two days ago I had to shoot rattler that had slithered up to within 6 feet of where I was working on my new coop, so I'm also concerned about how to snake-proof my coop and run.

 

[chick4chicks]

so sorry to hear about the loss of your chickie babies. Glad Momma and one baby survived. Hope you can find some friends for the baby.

 

[Sweetgum]

Thanks for all your kind words. Mama bear Hex is very fierce now and even gives us a hard time about changing her water, but survivor chick is growing fast. I just hope the little booger is a hen! We weren't able to find any hatchlings on such short notice, and now Survivor is a week old so we've probably missed that window of opportunity.
The rest of the flock are: three old ladies, Silverlace Wyandottes & one Buff Orpington who are at least 9 (Buffy still lays three eggs a week in nice weather!), two 5 year old Americauna ladies, one gentlemanly RIR roo, and some androgynous teenagers from Hex's last brood. (And two dogs & four cats..)

One of my cats likes to hunt things for the chickens to eat (lizards mainly). He will call them when he comes out of the woods with a prize, go find Binky (our Roo) and set the carcass down. Binky calls the girls while cat Peanut rolls around purring & watching them go to town. He also likes to join them when they are dustbathing in the sun. Anybody else have cross-species friendship stories?

 

[ml]

Very sorry about your loss. The hen will be ok raising the one. Never a fun thing to deal with a snake with your little ones.

Sounds like you have one super cat. Good relation ship for the cat to find goodies for the roo.

ML