Hen not moving much

[lmadeline146]

Unfortunately, we came home from our vacation at midnight, (with someone watching the chickens everyday), to find that 4 of our hens were murdered by a raccoon that dug under our protective in-ground fencing and got stuck in the coop. I’m truly devastated and just found out this morning. I went down to see who lived and who did not, and most of the hens were moving around and acting normal, as were the roosters, except for our one hen who is a barred rock female. She was always a runt growing up, but she was just standing still with her head tucked in. We picked her up and checked her for injuries, but she was fine on the surface. Could she just be bruised?

 

[ILoveDaffy]

She may be grieving for her friends. Is she eating and drinking?

 

[lmadeline146]

She may be grieving for her friends. Is she eating and drinking?

Yep, she’s been eating a little. I was just worried as to why all of the others are acting normal and she isn’t. Could she be bruised or something?

 

[ILoveDaffy]

I don't think so. She's probably stressed after what happened.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

It might be a good idea to give her some electrolytes in her water and see if she perks up.

 

[lmadeline146]

It might be a good idea to give her some electrolytes in her water and see if she perks up.

Thank you

 

[ILoveDaffy]

No problem! I'm always happy to help. I think she'll probably be okay with some time and extra care.

 

[aart]

a raccoon that dug under our protective in-ground fencing and got stuck in the coop.

Do you have a pic of this?

How did they get the raccoon out of the coop?

Sorry for your losses.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Unfortunately, we came home from our vacation at midnight, (with someone watching the chickens everyday), to find that 4 of our hens were murdered by a raccoon that dug under our protective in-ground fencing and got stuck in the coop. I’m truly devastated and just found out this morning. I went down to see who lived and who did not, and most of the hens were moving around and acting normal, as were the roosters, except for our one hen who is a barred rock female. She was always a runt growing up, but she was just standing still with her head tucked in. We picked her up and checked her for injuries, but she was fine on the surface. Could she just be bruised?

Give them sweetened water or watermelon to give them a boost, it helps with increasing their appetite.

 

[lmadeline146]

Do you have a pic of this?

How did they get the raccoon out of the coop?

Sorry for your losses.

I didn’t get a picture, but he dug under where our coop was and got into the run under the coop. He murdered one outside before getting locked in the coop because it has a daylight sensor on the door that shuts at a certain time. (we already adjusted it to shut earlier now) And he killed another two inside the coop. He escaped by biting through a 6 inch by 12 inch space that was blocked off with heavy duty fencing for ventilation. It really made me upset that he took 2 and killed the other two and left their bodies for no reason.