I messed up and now all but 1 baby is dead!! **UPDATE!!! PICS heavy***

[flnatv]

Quote:
Thank you Sharon. I do know what the problem was...just as a first time chick mom, I messed up. I dont think they got too hot/cold, they were fine when we moved them and they only went about 30 feet away from the place in the yard they have been for the last 2 weeks. I failed to secure the pop door properly. My husband actually found them this morning and disposed of them but I asked if the heads were gone & he said no and I went to collect the feed/water dish and I didnt see any feathers anywhere. I live in N. Georgia and the wether has been in the upper 80's in the day & the 60's at night.

Thank you again for your imput & your compassion~

Wish you were closer as I could donate a silkie to be company

 

[chics in the sun]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Seeing your set-up, which looks pretty solid, and that there are no feathers and no rips/tears, ect., leads me to think it may have been a human predator. Otherwise it makes no sense, not even for a cat or dog. A neighbor's chickens were found the same way last year.

 

[Darklingstorm]

I agree with the cat theory. I have a cat that catches wild birds and he often just kills them for the sport and not food (since we feed him very well). The birds look like they have broken necks. I actually saw him catch and kill one just the other day. When it stopped moving, he dropped it and started looking for more "entertainment".
Thankfully he has learned that chickens are off limits. But I still wouldn't trust him with chicks.

 

[Jencleg]

Thanks guys. The main reason for my post, was not for me to cry on your shoulders, but it was out of concern for the lone chick. I just hated seeing her so sad this morning. I will call around and see if I can find her a friend or 2.

I really do appreciate the support...It means so much to me...I knew that yall would understand!

Yall have a blessed day!

 

[bantyshanty]

First, your lonely, LUCKY little chick: Hold her as much as possible & give her some human company. Give her the company of being next to another small caged animal like a parakeet or a hamster, if you have one or can borrow one in a cage for a few days. What age is she? another chick of the same size, more than age, would work great, especially a pullet.

Second, everyone makes mistakes and learns form them, even if they've had chickens for 15 years!

Third, I'd suspect first, a weasel who was sated for the night but wanted to make sure she had extra meat on hold for her babies (only if you find teethmarks) . Second, might be a cat as well, in that we have several feral cats living in the woods behind our house. The neighbor feeds them (venison, daily!), but they simply kill for the game of it, by shaking the local birds and chipmunks until they're dead. There are very small teeth marks, sometimes no feathers around, little or no blood. Check their necks & backs thoroughly if you still can.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Hey folks - a reminder of the rules:

*Compassion will go a long way toward helping to educate and help solve someone's predator problem. No matter the reason, most members' birds are their pets and being a chicken doesn't make it less of a pet than a house cat or companion dog. Please don't lecture or hassle anyone about their losses. Glass houses......


Keeping chickens is a learning process for everyone. You think you have a secure set up and learn the hard way that it's not secure. You learn from it to keep it from happening again.

 

[justtoni44]

HI,
I am sorry for your loss also.....................
One more thought that does not line up if thier necks were truely broken.
I will hesitsntly admit that I lost some older chicks last year as a resukt of my stupid.............
Nearly killed me wih guilt.
I moved them from the house to the coop in the barn.
Our weather had been fair............a storm hit.temp dropped like a rock and they piled
up smothering a few on the bottom. I still feel sick whin I think about it.
I put flakes of hay around the bottom of the coop the next day so there were no longer corners to pile in. That resolved the problem.
Anyway, is it poosoble this could have happened...maybe not..........
Good luck finding a friend for your chick.

 

[deandad]

Terribly sorry about this painful experience. Equally sorry about the salt-in-the-wound comments from Al.

 

[Jencleg]

Quote:
Thank you.

 

[Jencleg]

As for the comment posted earlier...he was right. I FAILED to protect my little flock & now I will have to live with that. He has every right to call me out on my mistake and although I did feel a little bit blindsided, I appreciate his honesty.

I would have lost them a long time ago if it had not been for all the "seasoned pros" on this website to help me out these last few weeks.