Hello. This is my first post, and it's to ask what the best course of action is for our poor remaining hen.
We inherited a flock of one turkey, one rooster, and two hens from a neighbor who moved away. His home is unoccupied, so they remained in their "coop". They sleep there at night (chain link fence that looks to have been built to be a dog kennel with no gate), and free-range during the day, as they have since we moved here in October.
We lost our sweet turkey (our favorite of the flock) the day before Mother's Day. We thought she was hit by a car, but what happened today has me wondering about that.
Today, I saw only one hen cruising around, which is slightly unusual, but not hugely so. Walked to their coop and saw lots of rooster feathers (some bloody), and some hen feathers. No bodies.
My husband's coworkers believe it was the work of a raccoon, and he plans to take the sucker out this evening. I'm now wondering if the turkey wasn't hit by a car after all and was also the victim of a raccoon attack, since there were a lot of bloody feathers and no body in her case, as well. At the time, I wondered if someone very cruelly had swerved to hit her, since the feathers were near, but not in, the road.
I'm rambling. We are moving, likely across a few states, within the next few months. I am wondering what I can do for our remaining hen. With the upcoming move, I think it will be difficult to integrate her into a flock, especially since we really are new to owning chickens and have no prior experience. She already seems very lonely and distressed.
We inherited a flock of one turkey, one rooster, and two hens from a neighbor who moved away. His home is unoccupied, so they remained in their "coop". They sleep there at night (chain link fence that looks to have been built to be a dog kennel with no gate), and free-range during the day, as they have since we moved here in October.
We lost our sweet turkey (our favorite of the flock) the day before Mother's Day. We thought she was hit by a car, but what happened today has me wondering about that.
Today, I saw only one hen cruising around, which is slightly unusual, but not hugely so. Walked to their coop and saw lots of rooster feathers (some bloody), and some hen feathers. No bodies.
My husband's coworkers believe it was the work of a raccoon, and he plans to take the sucker out this evening. I'm now wondering if the turkey wasn't hit by a car after all and was also the victim of a raccoon attack, since there were a lot of bloody feathers and no body in her case, as well. At the time, I wondered if someone very cruelly had swerved to hit her, since the feathers were near, but not in, the road.
I'm rambling. We are moving, likely across a few states, within the next few months. I am wondering what I can do for our remaining hen. With the upcoming move, I think it will be difficult to integrate her into a flock, especially since we really are new to owning chickens and have no prior experience. She already seems very lonely and distressed.
