Getting Discouraged :(

[DreadedMoonMama]

*sigh* I have another bird to bury tomorrow morning and I'm just feeling like I must be the worst chicken mama in history right now.

At the height of our flock, we had 34 chickens and 5 turkeys. We lost a chicken here and there to different things - lost a few to hawks which I chalked up to "that's what happens when your birds free-range". But all together I figured our loss ratio wasn't too terrible.

A few weeks ago, I forgot to shut the coop at night and a raccoon got in. I lost a lot that day. Found a few bodies in the coop, and other chickens were just GONE. Whether eaten or scared off never to return, I don't know. The next night I made absolutely sure to shut the door...but I didn't shut the little door to their run. We've had them for a year and never once had any issues with not shutting the run, so it didn't even cross my mind. Apparently the hungry raccoon came back and I lost a few more, including one whose head was severely damaged but still managed to survive and my husband had to put her down.

This morning I went out to gather eggs and there was a dead hen in a nest. I checked her out but couldn't see any wounds. Tonight I went out there to shut the run door and noticed one of the hens was acting really weird...she was breathing hard and didn't seem to be balancing on the perch quite right. I put her down on the floor to see if she'd stand up and then fly back up to the roost, but she just kind of laid there and then tried to retreat into the nest the other hen died in. I put her on my arm and tried to hand her off to the roost - nothing. So I brought her in and while I was carrying her I noticed she was HOT. Like, REALLY hot. So I got her set up in our isolation box, Gave her some water - she drank and went to sleep, and then passed away about an hour later.

Out of our previous 39 birds, we now have only 15 chickens (only 10 of which are hens and 1 is an egg-eater who will be lunch as soon as we breed her) and 4 turkeys. 19. Of 39. We have lost more than half of our flock. I just...I don't know what to do. I don't know if there's now some disease going around the coop, or if it's just been too hot for them or what.

 

[TexasChickenUnv]

((hugs)) been there right with ya this week! We lost 4 of our 5 best layers this week due to lack of water(lesson learned for my kids). Left with 1 roo, 1 SLW, and 5 maternity crazed banties. We had to buy eggs at the store this morning!!

Last year I forgot to remind our chicken sitters to close the run door at night when we went on vacation. The only survivor of the Labor Day massacre is the handsome dude in my avatar. His 9 gals were days away from laying; we never got a single egg. My kids' first chickens; they were crushed.

Hang in there!

 

[Reyort]

I feel for you. We came home to find half our chicks dead. They had worked a hole under the edge of the box I was keeping them in and crawled out. Horrifying to find half eaten chicks everywhere. I lost another one the other day because she got her head stuck in the chicken wire and snapped her neck. Hang in there. You will figure it out

 

[galefrances]

I am so sorry for your loss. I know how you're feeling. I started out with 6 chicks. My first ever, only 2 weeks old, and I foolishly left my Saint Bernard alone with them one afternoon. When I came back in the house I found 4 dead chicks all over the living room. Two survived, but just barely. I now have 12, 2 are the original. Don't beat yourself up so much. So many of us have been there before. You'll work it out.