I can't believe I lost them.

[Chic_girl]

Hello everyone- Its been a miserable week for my coop at home. I came home for spring break to a diminished flock.

While I'm off at school, my parents take care of my chickens and ducks, and they are wonderful, and love them as much as I do. Unfortunately, a few days ago some critter had burrowed under our duck shelter, and attacked all of my ducks. My Khakis were killed, and so were two of my not-Runners. Two of my Runner ducks survived, but one of them passed away from her injuries a two days ago. So now I am down to one, poor, lonely Runner duck with an injured face and neck.

That broke my heart, but one thing shattered my heart into a million pieces- The predator had taken my favorite chicken as well. RIP Shanaynay, my beautiful, fabulous Polish hen. RIP Waffles, Latte, and Muffin, the best laying ducks ever, and Lemon and Tangelo, my quirky Khakis.

I was still at school at this time, and my parents borrowed a live-trap for the critter- it turned out to be a mink- I didn't even know we had them in the area! My father 'took care' of the mink, and we don't think there are others, but the trap is still set up and baited, just in case. The mink had chewed a tiny hole in the poultry netting of the hoop-house, and grabbed my hen from there, before my parents noticed the hole. Currently, my chickens are completely locked in the coop- pop door closed and locked, with my injured duck in the storage area.

I've been super paranoid, and when I let them out, I watch them like a hawk, in case someone gets taken by a hawk. When I let them out today, it was horrible seeing only 8 of my pet chickens wandering around the yard. All of them are extra-skittish as well, especially my sultan, Diana, and my last remaining Polish hen, Courtney. Courtney and Shanaynay were sisters, and were always together. I just wanted to cry watching Courtney wander around alone, making her 'Where are you?' noises that Shaynaynay would always answer too.

I love my chickens and my ducks, and though I have lost many over the years, it never gets easier. And this year has just been the worst already.

 

[drumstick diva]

Minks are especially viscious. Maybe you dad could hang up the pelt as a warning to other minks. I am so sorry for you. Sounds like your parents did a real good job But, I'm sure you wished you weren't in school then.

 

[flowerchicks]

I am soooooooo very sorry to hear about all your losses. I can't even imagine coming home to such a tragedy. I have lost several of my birds to, unfortunately, my own dog (a husky) because they flew over the run area into the main yard. It took us until the 5th one to realize they were disappearing because they were flying over the fence and she was burying them in the yard. We thought it was hawks or something (they were all either young pullets and one d'uccle when they disappeared). Unfortunately, do to our STUPID mistake, she was left alone with my flock last week and managed to restrain herself for almost 2 hours before killing my very favorite, super sweet and tiny black silkie, Clover. Her neck was broken and she died in my arms. I am still devastated by it. I am glad you have taken care of the killer and I hope and pray there are no more around. I hope your lone runner heals ok and finds a friend soon.

 

[sezjasper]

So sorry for all of your losses...so hard to watch the survivors try to cope. We've enjoyed seeing pictures of Shanaynay that you've posted...we always got a chuckle from her name...she was so perfectly named! I hope your injured duck can recover.

 

[My Hens and Roo]

It is absolutely soul crushing to see the survivor trying to cope, as the last writer acknowledged as well. Our Roo's sister Gertrude, my precious Buff Orpington died from choking on a piece of plastic. Our Roo was never the same without her. Though we did all we could to help him. We eventually had to re home him. (He got kind of crazy after). He is living on a farm now with a flock of 8 Jersey Ladies like himself and doing better. The reason we love these beautiful creatures so is because they possess such beautifully sensitive souls!!
I indeed feel for you!!

 

[AraucanaAnnie]

I'm so sorry! It's so terrible when something like this happens, and I hope your duck makes it!

 

[Chickenfan4life]

I feel your pain... I know what you feel like.

On the 25th of September, 2012, the most horrible thing happened; something I could never imagine; something so horrible, it brings tears to my eyes just to think of it.

I was sitting at the table, doing school. I'm a homeschooler, so you'd think that would give me an advantage of protecting the flock. It was a cloudy, overcast day outside, and the atmosphere wasn't much better inside: everyone was grumpy.

The chickens, a fine flock of 25+, were out free-ranging. I was working on an exceptionally hard math problem, when I heard the frantic squawking of my chickens. Leaping to my feet, I found one of our dogs, out of the fence, in pursuit of Gypsy, an Ameraucana hen. Furious that this dog was trying to hurt my girls, but panicking inside, I snatched him by the collar, and dragged him back to the fence. Then, I began to take a head count of the flock, but, somehow, I knew we weren't gonna get out of that situation without a loss. I saw another of our dogs eating something. I came closer, to see what it was she was eating, though I knew I didn't want to know.

The tears flooded to my eyes as I saw her victim: Buzzcut, my beautiful, sweet, red crested red Polish rooster, lay dead and mangled, on the ground. I saw another heap on the ground, hardly a few feet from that Buzzcut's body: it was Scratch, our rosecomb brown leghorn hen. I was crying harder and harder, but yet another shock was to come: not even 4 feet from Scratch lay Rocky, the most beloved of our flock, the one so sweet he'd hop up i your lap and eat from your hand... and he was dead, his crimson blood splattered all over his white feathers.

This horrible encounter wasn't the first time we'd lost chickens. Just a month or two before this, three fine girls were slaughtered, and exactly one week afterward that first horrible kill, one cockerel and two pullets were killed by the neighbors dog. From that point on, we lost chickens, left and right.

We started with a flock of 45, but with our most recent loss, my beloved Pigeon, we are down to 19 chickens. Every single day, I keep thinking I'll hear Rocky's high-pitched, pathetic crow, or Buzzcut and/or Scratch's loud vocalization, or find an egg, laid by Pigeon, in the feed bucket or on the floor of the coop... but I don't.

I hope you don't feel like the loss of your girls is your fault; it's clearly not, and I hope that you realize that you aren't the only person to encounter this horrible experience... my greatest condolences to you.

~Hannah~

 

[chicken gal]

I do not like it when pets die like that. I had 5 lttle chicks. My favorite was Angel. But as the chicks got older i noticed she was staying the same size. I will just skip the horrible parts. So she died on night. I was crying for a week. I still miss her and that was like 7 months ago. But i will always love her in my heart.

 

[Bush Chickens]

I'm so sorry.tell your duck he/she has to make it!! I would probably die trying to save my chickens,but none lost yet.