- Oct 1, 2014
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Well, the unthinkable happened. We had 6 lovely ladies for a year and a half. They were asleep in their coop which was secured with a gate latch and carabiner. Raccoons managed to bend and remove the carabiner, take it off the latch, open the latch and attack our chickens (we were away that night or we might have at least heard the assumed ruckus that ensued). I still can't believe they actually figured all that out and physically were able to do it. They killed 2 outright and badly injured two others who didn't survive either. We lost two Rhode Island Reds, one Leghorn and one Bard Rock. We have one Bard Rock and one Leghorn left. We've pad locked their coop and will be constructing a roof over their run so this can't ever happen again.
So we think we have the physical changes pretty well covered. That said, we want our two remaining birds to be "happy". We're not sure if they should have company at some point since they've lost 4 sisters. Can anyone chime in on whether or not we should introduce more chickens and when? We would prefer to wait till the spring and get baby chicks but I've heard that introducing younger birds into an established "flock" sometimes doesn't work out well. They just look lonely and we don't want them to be. We also want them to feel that they are protected and we figure there is safety in numbers.
Thanks all!
So we think we have the physical changes pretty well covered. That said, we want our two remaining birds to be "happy". We're not sure if they should have company at some point since they've lost 4 sisters. Can anyone chime in on whether or not we should introduce more chickens and when? We would prefer to wait till the spring and get baby chicks but I've heard that introducing younger birds into an established "flock" sometimes doesn't work out well. They just look lonely and we don't want them to be. We also want them to feel that they are protected and we figure there is safety in numbers.
Thanks all!