Hello I'm new here :)

[IceQueenICRA]

Hey, I just joined this site and I think it would be cool to meet other people who also care so much about chickens, I'll tell you my chicken story, it's a sad one though.. My Dad had bought 6 chickens a few months ago, they have grown a lot since then and he also bought another batch of 6. Unfortunately 2 chicks from the first batch turned out to be roosters, we were going to give them to a safe home that would care for them but one day are littlest male had disappeared.. so we ended up only giving the remaining rooster to live safely. Everything was going perfectly, our chickens are free range and we have 7 acres, they loved life, and would even peck at our doors if it was getting dark and they wanted to go to bed. Once the babies in batch 2 got old enough to go outside where the coop is, except for one, she was the runt and I loved her so much, we kept her inside so she could grow more before letting her out..after transferring the other babies outside with the big ones they were scared at first but soon enough the big ones learned to deal with the little ones..then one day one of the babies disappeared.. like our male we didn't know what happened but I was still really sad, a couple days or weeks later turned out to be one of the worst weeks ever for me..and that week is this very week..two days ago..my Dad found 2 more of our babies, killed...he didn't see what killed them...but that day I cried almost hours long, because I'm a sensitive person and a huge animal lover..I couldn't imagine how my babies felt while being brutally killed and I missed them so much. Then, last night..my most precious baby, the runt, who still lived inside with me...she passed away..I found her motionless, still body and had to take her out while blinded by my tears..I remember smiling and watching her walk around chirping to herself and staring up at me, when she was younger she would always come to the glass when she saw me..and she loved when I pet her..I made her a casket but it wasn't anything big..I just put some paper towels on a paper plate and laid her down on it then put more paper towels over her and taped it then wrote on it "R.I.P Yuzu" with a crying face and a heart, we buried her a couple hours ago..she had breathing problems and I always would keep an eye on her but I sometimes blame myself for not doing something to help her.. there's another thing that happened today, this morning, my Dad, Sis and my Dad's friend were awoken..by the sound of one of our chickens being attacked, my Dad got up as fast as he could and grabbed his shotgun but right when he walked out the door, he heard our poor baby die..it was too late, the dogs had run off back towards the neighbors house, my Dad tried to shoot them but they were to far already..and this time one of our big ones had been killed. He walked to the neighbors and told them if we ever catch their dogs on our property we will kill them, and we put two and two together and knew those dogs probably killed the other 2 babies and the chickens that had disappeared.

Sorry this was so long, I have just been deeply depressed this whole week and wanted to let it all out, I hope to meet people who care as much about their chickens as I do. I still feel the tears rising every time I think about them, I get so attached to my babies and I miss them so much..thank you for reading all of this, if you have. I am going to list the names of all our chickens below, the passed away ones, the remaining ones and the one rooster we let go somewhere he would be safe, thank you again for reading, my name is Megan but if you want you can call me Icy.

R.I.P
Minwoo- Our little rooster who disappeared...
Sweetie- The baby who disappeared...
Blacknose- Was attacked and killed with Grayleaf...
Grayleaf- Was attacked and killed with Blacknose...
Yuzu- Passed away from breathing problems...
and
Nanami- Was attacked and killed...

Remaining:
Yuki- Alpha Hen
Hime
Lizzie
Spottedfeather- One of the few remaining babies...
Chirpfeather- One of the few remaining babies...

The rooster that lives safely elsewhere:
Lee Joon

Thank you everyone and I hope to meet more people who love their chickens and we can talk about our babies together, my profile picture is Yuzu by the way. :'(

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC

I'm so sorry to hear about your losses

I've lost some very special chickens to predators myself, I understand what you're going through. It's an awful experience, losing them like that.

Have a good cry and then go have a look at your fences and coop and see what you can do to keep those dogs out. I'd suggest you also talk to your local sherif/ law enforcement officer and find out what you can do and what your rights are. The neighbours need to keep those dogs under control and on their own property!

Good luck

 

[IceQueenICRA]

Thank you! I will try my best to try and fix up our fences to where our babies won't crawl out if they are too young to explore, they love squeezing through the fence but the remaining two should be getting big enough to where they can't anymore, there still is a few places I will fix so that I will be sure they can't squeeze out, thanks for replying.

The neighbors have like 10 dogs they keep in the house and they just took in a stray, which is the one killing our babies..they said they would try to keep him away from our property but my Dad won't hesitate if he sees him because he loves our girls just as much as I do, just without the tears. I love watching them, the big ones if they get startled or are playing they sometimes sound like they are giggling like Hyena's and I think it's the cutest thing ever, thanks once again!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. I'm sorry for your losses. It's always sad to lose some out of our flocks. Sumi has given you some good advice and we are here to help in any way we can. I hope you don't lose anymore of your flock. Good luck.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Oh, I am so so sorry for your losses.

Do your best to secure your area and if need be, keep them in a run. I can't let my birds out unless I am there to supervise. Again, I am so so sorry.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry for your losses.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Sorry for your losses!

 

[IceQueenICRA]

Thank you everyone, I found one part of the fence where there was a small hole and maybe that is how the younger ones kept getting out. I plugged the hole up and hopefully our last two little ones won't be able to get out until we build a fence around our whole property or at least around are cabins and coop. I think our chickens are sad as well by the losses and they also seem worried cause the big ones don't even go out of the fence surrounding their coop, and I know if the big ones want out they know how to let themselves out and in by jumping and gliding on top of the fence but they haven't been doing that so I know they are probably scared and sad also. I made two crosses for the lost chickens and they will never be forgotten, thanks everyone who replied and read my sad chicken story, it makes me feel good meeting people who understand.

 

[Lollie508]

I'm so sad to hear about your babies, but welcome to BYC.

 

[IceQueenICRA]

Thank you, I'm like a Mother Hen with my babies and so it really hurt when this happened. I'm slowly coming out of depression but every time I walk into the living room and I don't hear my Yuzu it always returns and I feel slightly lonely. I have two cats who loved watching them but never would try to harm them and they kept giving me attention and meowing to me when I was crying when I found Yuzu had passed so they were trying to also help me feel better. Thanks for replying and I just love everyone's pictures of their cute chickens! You all have adorable babies as well!