Hey there,
Back on the 24th of May I lost 3 of my 5 hens to coyotes. I've fixed how they got into their coop and run. But I'm starting to seriously panic about one of my remaining 2 girls. Big Red seems to be doing fine now, she yells at me to let her out to free range and just acts normal in general. It's Little Red that I'm freaking out over. Here we are almost 2 full weeks later and she is still not laying, nor is she coming out and about. The first few days after the coyotes I would sit with her on my lap and feed her, love on her and all of that. She would squawk at me and just sound like she was talking. She'd hop down on her own and go do her thing then wander back into the coop and lay in a nesting box. About a week ago she was coming out on her own in the mornings, but when I'd get home from work she would be laying in the nesting box again. NOW she won't come out unless I pull her out. I feel horrible, but I don't want her starving herself. The biggest difference now is that she won't go near the roosting bar, she lays in one nesting box and when I open the box up to get the egg that Big Red lays each day Little Red fluffs up, sticks her hind end in the air and squawks as loudly as she can. You would swear I'm beating her or something and all I do is grab an egg. What should I do? How can I help her? I'm so worried about her and don't know what else to do?!
The reason I believe she won't go to the roosting bar (neither will go and they lay on each other at night) is that when one of the coyotes got in, they pulled another red off of the bar and dragged her out.
So, I will be building a brand new coop in the next week or so (have to have the money to buy the wood and parts) and I'm hoping it might help to have a new and safer feeling home. But I just don't know.
Side Note: Yes, I did clean the coop out after the coyotes got in. Cleaned it cleaned...I wouldn't want them to still smell the animals.
Thanks for any help!
Back on the 24th of May I lost 3 of my 5 hens to coyotes. I've fixed how they got into their coop and run. But I'm starting to seriously panic about one of my remaining 2 girls. Big Red seems to be doing fine now, she yells at me to let her out to free range and just acts normal in general. It's Little Red that I'm freaking out over. Here we are almost 2 full weeks later and she is still not laying, nor is she coming out and about. The first few days after the coyotes I would sit with her on my lap and feed her, love on her and all of that. She would squawk at me and just sound like she was talking. She'd hop down on her own and go do her thing then wander back into the coop and lay in a nesting box. About a week ago she was coming out on her own in the mornings, but when I'd get home from work she would be laying in the nesting box again. NOW she won't come out unless I pull her out. I feel horrible, but I don't want her starving herself. The biggest difference now is that she won't go near the roosting bar, she lays in one nesting box and when I open the box up to get the egg that Big Red lays each day Little Red fluffs up, sticks her hind end in the air and squawks as loudly as she can. You would swear I'm beating her or something and all I do is grab an egg. What should I do? How can I help her? I'm so worried about her and don't know what else to do?!
The reason I believe she won't go to the roosting bar (neither will go and they lay on each other at night) is that when one of the coyotes got in, they pulled another red off of the bar and dragged her out.
So, I will be building a brand new coop in the next week or so (have to have the money to buy the wood and parts) and I'm hoping it might help to have a new and safer feeling home. But I just don't know.
Side Note: Yes, I did clean the coop out after the coyotes got in. Cleaned it cleaned...I wouldn't want them to still smell the animals.
Thanks for any help!
