Heartbroken -- Bobcat attacked last night

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so very sorry to hear about your losses, this is indeed heartbreaking

Photos of your injured hen may be helpful, if that is something you'd like to share.

Cleaning her wounds like you have an applying triple antibiotic ointment was very good. If you feel like the wounds need to be re-flushed or cleaned, you can use saline, diluted betadine, chlorhexadine or soap/water.

Tractor Supply does not have oral antibiotics, but they do have injectable Penicillin in the refrigerated section. Look for Procaine penicillin G. TSC carries needles and syringes as well, get a pack of 20gauge needle and some syringes. Dosage for Penicillin is 1/4cc daily injected into the breast muscle 1/4" deep for 4days. Alternate sides each day.

If she is very lethargic, do the best you can to keep her warm. Place her in a box or kennel in a quiet area. Try to get her hydrated - you can give plain water, sugar water, electrolytes, vitamin water, gatorade, whatever you can get into her. After she is drinking then see if she will eat. A little chopped egg is sometimes well received. If she won't eat right now, but will drink, that will be o.k. for a day or so.

Again, so so sorry I can't imagine. Please keep us posted.

 

[Jeniep]

Most of my flock was wiped out last night. We thought we had built Fort Knox. Totally fenced yard, hawk netting on top and double strands of electric wire around the perimeter. The only weak point was the entry door, where we don't have electric wire strung across. I'm guessing that's where it got in, as there is a small gaps there.

Anyway, last night I did a chicken check after the automatic door had closed. Everyone accounted for and on their roosts. The automatic door opens into the fenced yard, around dawn (I've since moved the time back to 8 a.m.). At 7:30 a.m., about an hour after it opened, I go out to check on the chickens. I see only handful of birds wandering around the yard squawking. I got that sick feeling in my stomach and run to the coop. Total slaughterhouse inside. 9 out of 17 dead with their necks broken. One more is injured with bite marks on her head but still alive. All of my original flock of 5 year olds, save one, dead. My best, wonderful broody hen, dead. My little pullet who laid her first egg yesterday, dead. One of my favorite sussex, who followed me around talking to me, dead. The cat also spooked the rabbits in the hutches, and one of my pregnant does must have panicked because it look like she injured her back last night, her hind legs are paralyzed, and we may need to put her down. She was 5 days from her due date.

My sheer happenstance, I had given my husband a game trail camera for Christmas and he was testing it in the chicken yard last night, so we got a clear picture of the culprit, a very small bobcat -- probably a juvenile. Small enough to squeeze through the little gaps, big enough to do plenty of harm.

My husband just left to buy materials to encase the entire door area and every small gap in hardware cloth and also string a third line of electric fencing higher up the fence (which is a no-climb fence, not hardware cloth), so that the cat would hit it, if it tried to jump on the fence over the existing wires.

I've separated out the bite victim, washed her wounds and applied triple anti-biotic cream to them. The wounds are not big (I had to peel back the feathers to even see them), but they are puncture wounds, so I imagine they are a few mm deep. I'm going to check today to see if the tractor store sells any type of oral antibiotic. The hen is alive, but she's fluffed up and hanging her head, so I am very worried about her. I'm not sure if there is anything else I can do.

This has been the hardest day of my chicken keeping. I needed to vent (and cry). I really feel like I let those poor birds down. Thanks if you read all the way to the end.

 

[Izzychicky]

I can’t imagine losing one chicken, but a whole piece of the flock must be heartbreaking! I’m sorry for your loss

 

[Percheron chick]

I'm do sorry and know the pain. I lost 6/8 Christmas morning 6 years ago to a bobcat. It managed to sneeze between the rafters and somehow climb up a solid wall. My original flock as well.

 

[Morrigan]

Thanks everybody for your hugs and well wishes. It hurts to see so few hens in the yard. It was especially tough losing my wonderful broody (who is my avatar), and the rabbit situation is truly, truly heartbreaking. She had already started building her nest when this happened. We have her in a warm safe area and are hoping against hope, that her spine was bruised, and not broken, and might heal. She is still eating, although not much, and isn't in obvious pain. We are keeping a close watch on her, as we do not want her to suffer.

The hen that was bitten is also in a warm, quiet spot. I can't tell if she is drinking, although she has oriented herself to be facing the water. The bite marks look better for the cleaning and ointment. I would post a picture, but I can't hold her, move the feathers out of the way, and get a picture, without another set of hands. There's not much to see, truth be told, just small toothmarks on each side of her head. The are not bleeding, swelling, oozing or gaping, so that's promising, I guess.

I thought another hen might be injured, as she is sitting off by herself with her eyes closed and her head somewhat lowered. But I examined her thoroughly and can't find a mark or any signs of bruising on her. I don't know if it's mental trauma, or she exhausted herself running from the bobcat, or if she's mourning her lost friends.

I saw the bobcat on the other side of the fence this morning staring in at the chicken yard when I was cleaning up. Very definitely a bobcat, but no larger than a housecat. I shouted at it, and it ran off. I know it will be back, so husband is working overtime today installing new security measures.

 

[Abriana]

Chickens don’t usually mourn the loss of other birds. Unless they’re the only one left and they’re alone, or if they’re a close flock of two or three.

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you in an area where it is not possible to shoot the bobcat? Can you call your ACO or local game warden for assistance in removing this menace? He'll keep returning until he's wiped your animals out.

 

[staceyj]

I am so very sorry.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Gosh, how terrible. I would be absolutely devastated were this to happen. In fact I'm on hawk watch right now. The aerial security just isn't good enough to keep them safe.

How small of a gap would you say the bob kitty squeezed through? When you have some time I think it would be helpful if you were able to let us know. I like to think their coop is secure, but maybe it's not. I'd welcome the eduction, I'm just sorry it's at the expense of your darling hens.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Condolences for your birds, it's obvious they were well loved and had a good life with you.

Sometimes we just can't see a vulnerability that lets something in. Or know that this time the dog will end up running into the road even though he never did before. I had a cat break his leg getting caught up in the wrought iron side of an antique sewing table, didn't see that one coming. Loving pets is full of these things, it really is. All you can do is care enough to fix the newly discovered risk. If you left it and it kept happening that's one thing, but this was just an accident and not your fault. Try to be at peace and move forward when you can. Rotten sneaky predators.