- Dec 11, 2013
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I lost my first hen yesterday to a hawk.
I had 8 hens and 1 rooster, all bought together. They are 9 months old. The hawk killed my RIR, and today I noticed the neck feathers on my Cuckoo Marans are all shredded. No injuries to the skin that I can see. I assume that she escaped the hawk, who then caught my RIR and beheaded her instead. The Cuckoo was found cowering in a corner of the coop and is still skittish. All chickens have remained in the coop since the attack, only coming out for a minute today while I stood by. They did not want to stay out at all. I just went to get something I had left in the barn and noticed that the wounded bird is alone at one end of the perch while the rest of the flock is huddled together at the other end, with the roo in between. I am worried about her being isolated in the freezing temps. I am assuming that her broken and missing neck feathers are from the hawk as I have not seen any of the other birds hen pecking her. Should I just leave them alone to sort it out? I am not sure where she falls in the pecking order, but I do know that the RIR was the roo's favorite, always together on the roost.

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