Half My Flock Is Missing

[DoozyWombat]

It's been a while since I've been on here, but I've just lost more than half my flock and I don't know why. This is my fifth year with chickens, but it's by far the most difficult.

I had 33 chicks (27 CX and six Leghorns) that will be four weeks old tomorrow. No other birds. My last adults were killed by foxes and a local dog this spring. I have them in a very secure Woods coop with a solar-activated door.

The solar door closed at 8:42 pm last night. I then opened the big door and counted 33 chicks. Going by that time, it should have opened about 6:00 this morning.

When I got out to the yard about 7:30, I had eleven birds in the coop. After searching, I now have fifteen birds. One Leghorn is looking like she won't make it, so probably fourteen. I found two dead CX in the barnyard, widely separated and not eaten. I also found a Leghorn I thought was dead, but is barely alive. I found three live CX who had gotten out of the barnyard entirely, wandering around. I got them back in with the others, and then found one more CX dead in the grass forty yards from the barnyard.

I've searched to about a hundred yards from the coop and found no others. I did not find any plucking sites, and the only few feathers were inside the barnyard. There were no clumps of feathers like you'd get from a four-legged kill.

Until this morning, the chicks have stayed pretty close to the coop, and none of them have ever tried to get out of the barnyard.

Two of the three dead CX showed signs of a bird strike, but were not eaten. One of the CX shows no trauma at all. The nearly-dead Leghorn shows no trauma at all.

My best guess is moldy food, but I'd like to hear from the experienced ones in here.

I've been feeding them layer crumble and mini-pellets, after going through a 50lb bag of chick starter. They've been much preferring the crumble to the pellets, but this morning the crumble was down to nothing. The pellets look fine, but as a guess, they've been eating only the crumble. When they ran out of that, they OD'd on whatever was in the mini-pellets.

I've removed the pellets and refilled the crumble, and most of the remainder are eating the crumble.

The pellets don't look bad by looking at them.

So my questions for the group are:

1. Does this seem like moldy food to you, or could there be another cause?

2. How far would poisoned chicks be likely to run? I'm puzzled that I'm still missing fifteen birds entirely.

3. How can you tell when pellets are moldy if they don't look different from fresh pellets?

Thanks very much.
Doozy Wombat

 

[sourland]

To me it appears that you have had a predator attack on your flock. A pair of fox or coyote can snatch and run with many birds in a short period of time. They are feeding young now.

 

[DoozyWombat]

We've certainly had issues with both foxes and coyotes. Three years ago, I realized that the CX couldn't be bothered to go into the coop at night, and became a daily feast for coyotes. I lost 17 birds over the course of a week before I caught on to what was happening.

I wondered if a weasel could have gotten into the coop and done it, but there would have been lots of bloody birds if that happened, I think.

I do get the need for coyotes or foxes to take birds for feeding young.

But eighteen birds vanishing at once in daytime, with no feathers, blood, or other signs of struggle? Could a pair of animals even be capable of carrying off that many in one hour?

And the dead birds that showed no trauma at all--did they just die of fright, then? I'm particularly concerned about the Leghorn chick that is still alive, but barely. Not a mark on her, and if she didn't die of a heart attack, I would think she would be fully recovered in a few minutes. Instead, I think she's not going to make it.

I very much respect the experience and I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just trying to make sense of what happened so I can prevent it.

Disease also seems like a distant possibility, but they all seemed healthy last night (when I counted 33 of them,) so it would have had to hit a bunch at once without affecting others.

I *really* appreciate the response, though.

What do birds do when they eat moldy feed? Do they just drop dead, or do they run off first?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So there is not a secure run surrounding the coop? Once the auto door opens, they are just basically free range or loose in the barn yard, which is open to predators? Not being critical, just trying to understand the situation.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

2. How far would poisoned chicks be likely to run?

I agree it's likely a predator again. Sorry for your loss!

But I don't understand (aside from not having the knowledge) why anyone would feed juvenile chicks especially CX.. a "layer" feed.. that is not sufficient in protein or amino acids and the EXCESS calcium is essentially poison to non laying birds (long term also partly dependent on genetics).. both will reduce growth rate, possibly stunt development AND delay the onset of lay. A whole host of unforseen issues may present later in life.

Some of the birds you're still missing may be gone with the predator or still hiding and show up later.

It appears no matter how secure your coop is that your pasture is not.. consider adding E fencing or an enclosed run rather than continuing to feed the wildlife. Once the buffet is open.. it must be closed. The predator is VERY likely to return.. as it found an otherwise easy meal.

ETA: All chicks have to be taught how to go into the coop at night.. leaving them out is asking for a predator visit.. They are just babies no matter how big their bodies get.

 

[DoozyWombat]

Good advice, thanks very much.

I'm not glad to hear it's likely predators, but maybe some more will come back.

The pasture/barnyard has pretty good fencing around it which was electrified, but the e-fencing broke down due to vegetation. Foxes can apparently get under one of the gates, and coyotes can climb the main fence. Deer also have no trouble hopping it as well. I now have 8' deer fencing which I will put in as soon as my back injury heals, and then I plan to electrify the fence again.

I have not been able to teach CX chicks to go in at night. I end up picking them up and chucking them into the coop after the door closes--or they end up being eaten. Last night, they were all inside until the door opened this morning.

I've disabled the solar door until the yard is secured. I have a timber I can put under the gate, but the coyotes climbing the fence will only be stopped by electrifying it (and raising the deer fence when I can do it.) I can get the timber under the door today, but I don't think I can get the e-fence working today.

I had not realized that about layer feed and young birds. I'll switch that right away. The 16% layer feed is about half the price of the 20% chick starter. (Or it was. I just checked and Tractor Supply has them for the same price. Weird.) I have some coming in today.

I've had one more CX turn up. Don't know where it was, but it looked traumatized and has an attack injury. The Leghorn chick died, btw.

So I now have sixteen live birds, four dead ones, and thirteen missing.

Looks like the predator explanation is the right one, though the remaining birds are certainly not eating like CX usually do. I'm still baffled by the lack of feathers or other evidence of birds being snatched. I'd lost not one bird in three weeks, then lose seventeen in an hour.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I just think that if your burds had eaten toxic food, they'd be huddled in corners looking miserable, not completely vanished. Especially CX, which don't move around much anyway, they're not known for running anywhere. My vote is also for predatory attack. Better luck going forward, and I'm sorry for your losses.

 

[DoozyWombat]

I think the predator theory has to be the right one, based on the things said here. Good news and bad news--but the really bad news is that I'm feeding those SOBs who are raising more SOBs, making my problem worse. Really tired of that.

I got the timber under the gate the foxes were using, but it's going to be a few days before I can get the e-fence running again.

I have foxes denning about fifty yards from the gate, and a coyote colony about a hundred yards from the barnyard fence. Can't do anything about either, except to tighten security. (Not on my property.)

I don't know that I've ever heard of foxes hunting in more than pairs, so I'm thinking the culprit this time had to be coyotes, who could have come over in a large group at dawn.

When I first got chickens, I got some ribbing for the overkill security. It doesn't look like too much now.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[dawg53]

I'd like to address the mold issue just for your info. I've dealt with it. When you open a sack of feed, closely inspect the area where you opened it. You can see the mold in the stitching and at the top of the sack. It is grayish or black in color and if there's enough of it, you can smell it. I cant describe the smell other than it smells "off," than when you open a "clean" sack of feed.
You'll most likely see the mold on the feed too, a musty odor. You can return the sack and exchange it or get a refund.
Usually they are the sacks at the bottom of a pallet in a warehouse or store that are subject to the weather or rodents. They dont rotate products like they should in most stores. Check the dates on the sacks as well.