Every single one of my hens slaughtered :(

[goobhen]

So sorry for your losses! You can plan and build your coop and runs the best you think possible, and there is one little thing that can cause disaster! You will soon have fort knox with your new coop in the barn!
Best wishes, Theresa

 

[erinlee]

I'm still having a hard time coping with this loss

I keep thinking of the ladies running towards me whenver they saw me; they could come when I called hoping for a treat

And they would come up on the front porch and look in the glass on the door, knowing that if I saw them out there I'd come out with a treat. Sometimes they would even "knock" to get my attention. So sad.

I've got the trap setup again tonight; I'm determined to catch whatever it was.

The chickens were left whole. A couple of them had all of their feathers torn off their heads, but otherwise seemed to be all intact although bloody. I honestly didn't have the heart to examine them much though, it was so hard finding them like that. I watched my husband pick all the bodies up though, and none were in pieces. I guess maybe I could cope with the loss more if they would have died because some critter was hungry and needed to eat to survive. But this was just killing for the heck of it, it was quite clear. None had any signs of being eaten off of.

We've never seen any weasels or the like around here, but I guess they may be here. We live in the woods right on a lake and a there is a river about 150 feet away, so I know there are lots of critters in the woods around us. Earlier this summer we lost a couple girls in the middle of the day to a bobcat; that was a hard loss as well but not nearly as devistating as this one.

 

[silkiechicken]

If all bodies were accounted for and just heads knawed off... that really really sounds like a weasel or mink. All the coon experiences I've had ended up in bodies being pulled out and dragged away.

 

[24279102]

Chicwanna B : They are both fine it seems. We were really lucky on that one. This is the first that I have had of this breed and they are not laying yet so I'm really looking forward to what they give me ! Thanks for asking about them.

 

[curious1969]

So sorry for your loss..hope you catch the culprit.