HELP MY FLOCK IS GONE!

[TheMonroeChicks]

Did you find them @Shelby Hodge ??

 

[Dee Dee N Desiree]

So I have a small flock of five 7 week old Rhode Island Reds. For the past three days I have been introducing them to the coop and bringing them back in at night. Well today I put them out in the run and when I came out they were gone. My dog had gotten through the chicken coop and I guess scared them out. There is no blood on my dog and no bodies or anything anywhere so I am assuming they are all alive. I have been searching for like 4 hours with no luck. Will they come back? They don't really know the outside. Up til 3 days ago they were in a big plastic box under a heat lamp. I am so upset. I love my chickens and hope they are okay. I am also worried because even though they have most all their feathers they still don't have the feathers under their wings and it's going to be like 50 degrees tonight. Would you think they would stick together? please help

Aaw, I pray you will find them. Please keep us updated.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Any cats in the area??? Not to dampen any hope but cats and sometimes dogs can flatten a flock in minutes ... once left my brooder open while getting water ... catski got in ! Also had the neighbours dog kill 5 fully grown chickens in a matter of minutes ... its not pretty ... but realistically ... we all have to accept these losses and just get back to it ... i'd send you some replacements but i live to far ... just get back up on that horse and learn from any mistakes that were made ... youll be a chicken mama soon enough again !

I once had a woman flag me down one day to introduce herself (she'd just moved in) & apologize in advance if her predatory cat killed one of my chickens...because she let's it roam & these things might happen.

Imagine her surprise when I told her that if I saw her predatory cat near my chickens that she could expect to not see it again, because those things happen when a predator screws with my girls.

She actually stammered. (Dumba $$, what did she THINK I was going to say? Sure thing, have at 'em?) Guess who keeps tabs on her stupid cat? Yeah, welcome to the 'neighborhood'.

My husband attempted to tell me that I shouldn't say things like that, especially to new people. "1) You say stupid things, you roll the dice.
2) Sometimes things just pop out &
3) She's lucky that's all I said."

Yeah, don't mess with Chicken Mom's babies!!! Making me accountable for someone else's irresponsible pet ownership isn't in my play book.

 

[Dee Dee N Desiree]

No luck yet. It's not light outside yet so right now we're just walking around with a flashlight looking. I'm praying as soon as the sun comes up they start clucking.

Hang in there! we're praying your babies hear you or see you and know they are safe to come out of hiding.

 

[Teila]

I once had a woman flag me down one day to introduce herself (she'd just moved in) & apologize in advance if her predatory cat killed one of my chickens...because she let's it roam & these things might happen.

Imagine her surprise when I told her that if I saw her predatory cat near my chickens that she could expect to not see it again, because those things happen when a predator screws with my girls.

She actually stammered. (Dumba $$, what did she THINK I was going to say? Sure thing, have at 'em?) Guess who keeps tabs on her stupid cat? Yeah, welcome to the 'neighborhood'.

My husband attempted to tell me that I shouldn't say things like that, especially to new people. "1) You say stupid things, you roll the dice.
2) Sometimes things just pop out &
3) She's lucky that's all I said."

Yeah, don't mess with Chicken Mom's babies!!! Making me accountable for someone else's irresponsible pet ownership isn't in my play book.

I love it!!

I have 2 x much loved indoor cats who have an outside run for both theirs and the wildlife's protection. So, I am a cat lover .. however, like you, I do not love other people's cats on my property and have no qualms in telling them so.

Long story, but I nearly lost one of my cats due to her bolting out the front door when she spotted over the road's cat under our car. Not being an outside cat at all, she nearly got run over and if she had, I would have walked over and punched my neighbour without a second thought; wanted to do that even though Chimee did not get hurt.

I honestly believe that a cat fight right next to our coop in the night caused one of our chickens to either die of fright and fall off the roost or fall off the roost and break her neck. Cat fight at 2AM right next to coop, previously healthy chicken found dead the next morning; coincidence? I think not.

So yeah, I am hearing ya!

 

[sbienusa]

I had 5 young Narragansett turkeys go missing once. A few weeks later I was doing portraits at one of my neighbors and she mentioned these wild turkeys that looked different. We had went door to door when they disappeared but must have missed them. Anyway, come to find out they had ran off with the wild turkeys. They were roosting in an 80 ft pine tree with the rest of the wild flock. One hen got injured and came home to be doctored (crazy huh?) but we now have a bunch of wild turkeys with surprisingly light colored feathers. I won't tell if you won't. I hope your chicks return and I am really sorry. I was devastated when my poults disappeared so I do understand your heartbreak. I love golden comet hens though! Hopefully they make you smile like mine do me. I have one that crawls through the open top of their round galvanised feeder which is hanging under a tin roof. She swings on it and eventually gets her body down inside so she can lay an egg. Silly girl.

 

[BarredRockMom]

I love it!!

I have 2 x much loved indoor cats who have an outside run for both theirs and the wildlife's protection. So, I am a cat lover .. however, like you, I do not love other people's cats on my property and have no qualms in telling them so.

Long story, but I nearly lost one of my cats due to her bolting out the front door when she spotted over the road's cat under our car. Not being an outside cat at all, she nearly got run over and if she had, I would have walked over and punched my neighbour without a second thought; wanted to do that even though Chimee did not get hurt.

I honestly believe that a cat fight right next to our coop in the night caused one of our chickens to either die of fright and fall off the roost or fall off the roost and break her neck. Cat fight at 2AM right next to coop, previously healthy chicken found dead the next morning; coincidence? I think not.

So yeah, I am hearing ya!

Man, some people never cease to amaze me...and I am NOT being complimentary!

I'm not a cat person, never have been. It doesn't help that I'm highly allergic. But they're beautiful & intelligent & I can appreciate them. I used to be a dog person, but, eh, not enough to have one at this point. But chickens? Ohhhh yeah, I'm a chicken person. And for those people who have animals & do right by them, hey have whatever ya want and good on ya. The rest of the dopes?


That 2am cat fight, then subsequent unexplained chicken death, yeah, who knows. I guess it's possible that they could slip out of fright and break a neck. I had that happen to one of my girls once. Could NOT figure out for the life of me how such a beautiful, young, healthy girl could just up & break her neck all of a sudden. Maybe she heard something that scared the daylights outta her. We'll prob never know. At least you have a theory, though it stinks. But nah, I'm not a coincidence kinda gal, so I hear ya!

 

[ChickenFajita6]

I love it!!

I have 2 x much loved indoor cats who have an outside run for both theirs and the wildlife's protection. So, I am a cat lover .. however, like you, I do not love other people's cats on my property and have no qualms in telling them so.

We have 3 cats. Two are indoors only - one of which is a super docile ragdoll, the other is a big fat boy afraid of his own shadow. Cat #3 is a cat who adopted us. Very street smart (or she use t be, we've ruined her lol) and an excellent hunter. She is the only one who gets outside time. She is very very much attached to me, and I think she respects the chickens because she accepts that they're just other pets of mine. I have been able to have her out in the yard while my girls are free ranging and she watches them but doesn't bother them at all. She actually acts a little afraid, lol (don't blame her either, my Fajita cornered her and stalked her through the yard the first time they met).
But we have a couple stray cats that occasionally pop up and having her out there keeps them away. She will NOT allow a strange cat in her yard, and actually got injured in a fight with one several months back (and I actually haven't seen that stray since then).

Stranger cats do make me nervous for my girls, but my "mama" cat has their back.

 

[apryl29]

We have 2 outdoor cats that are cautious around our chickens, but both cats are 15+ years old. The cats will sit near them & watch, but won't approach them, same w/ our dog, but he's a toy poodle so everything scares him. I have a cute pic of my cat Jasmine drinking out of an overturned side table while our cockerel, Odin, stood nearby. Nowadays I wouldn't even consider letting Odin near my Jasmine b/c he's a jerkface. I think the cats are more afraid of the chickens. We have wild bunnies near the coop and when they free range I've seen a couple of our chickens chasing the bunnies like they wanted to play with them. Now the bunnies, the cats will go after them, but I think they know the chickens are off limits. We've seen a couple of stray cats this past summer, but none of them have gone near the coop. I think they just come for the cat food. I'm more worried about wild animals. We believe a coyote got one of our ladies early this summer, & possibly a raccoon was trying to figure out how to get into the run, but failed.

 

[micstrachan]

Two things:
1. @Shelby Hodge , I am sooo sorry your flock is missing. My heart breaks for you. I can’t even imagine how sad you must be.
2. Regarding cats and chickens... my flock of nine free ranges around mine and my neighbor’s properties, which are about 1.5-2.0 acres combined. He has something like 12 cats. Believe it or not, the cats and chickens coexist quite peacefully. If anything, the chickens seem to have the upper hand. Don’t get me wrong; I know if it came down to a fight a cat would win. But they all tolerate each other very well. There was one cat who showed mild predatory interest when the girls first started to free range, but my late Rusty gave her a firm peck on the head and her interest was squashed. Besides, I don’t leave them out unsupervised, as the cats are the least of their worries when it comes to predators.