- Mar 5, 2013
- 1
- 0
- 7
Hi All. It all started about 3 weeks ago, I found the first hen... then shortly after, a rooster and another hen 2 consecutive days. The first hen was outside the coop and had been eaten pretty well. The rooster was inside the coop, only head missing, the other hen just had some of her breast missing. At that time my coop was admittedly not the most secure.. they were in a barn stall that went out into a 6ft welded wire enclosure. It wouldn't have been too hard for something to get to them.
After that happened I moved the remaining 5 hens to a chain link dog kennel that has a secure roof. This morning I found 2 more hens, heads eaten off inside the kennel. No signs of anything digging underneath, so it had to be something that could get through the chain link of the kennel.. I read that racoons will reach through the fence...but if this is happening at night... my girls sleep on top of a dog house that is in the kennel. One of the girls from this morning was right near the edge of the fence on the inside... like something tried to pull her through, and the other was behind her a little bit. From what I have read on here, racoons or weasels are my best guess.
However..I could be wrong, but I dont think they would come off from ontop of the dog house where they sleep and down next to the fence in the middle of the night to get close enough to whatever was doing it... how would the raccoon reach through and grab them if they were up on the dog house..in the back. Three sides of the kennel are covered with tarps... so the only open way to get to the chickens is the front. A raccoon could not reach through and grab them from the front if they were ontop their house..where they always are at night. I walk by the chickens at night when they are roosting, with my dogs, and they dont ever come off the house, even if a dog, or me, is right in front of their kennel. So why would they come down for a raccoon to grab them. So, what is small enough to get their entire body through the chainlink to get to them? A weasel?? But really, did a little weasel really kill my huge jerk of a rooster? That Roo was nasty even with me.. and I fed him everyday.. and he was HUGE!
I just dont know what to do... I have only 3 girls left. I want to protect them..what the heck is doing this, and how can I stop it? Is the only safe place for chickens something that is totally enclosed on all 4 sides, with no fencing? Like a shed? I have a huge empty barn, that I want to try and use if I can get it more secure, or atleast one stall more secure... but if they are getting through something that is the size of a chainlink opening... ugh. So frustrating.
After that happened I moved the remaining 5 hens to a chain link dog kennel that has a secure roof. This morning I found 2 more hens, heads eaten off inside the kennel. No signs of anything digging underneath, so it had to be something that could get through the chain link of the kennel.. I read that racoons will reach through the fence...but if this is happening at night... my girls sleep on top of a dog house that is in the kennel. One of the girls from this morning was right near the edge of the fence on the inside... like something tried to pull her through, and the other was behind her a little bit. From what I have read on here, racoons or weasels are my best guess.
However..I could be wrong, but I dont think they would come off from ontop of the dog house where they sleep and down next to the fence in the middle of the night to get close enough to whatever was doing it... how would the raccoon reach through and grab them if they were up on the dog house..in the back. Three sides of the kennel are covered with tarps... so the only open way to get to the chickens is the front. A raccoon could not reach through and grab them from the front if they were ontop their house..where they always are at night. I walk by the chickens at night when they are roosting, with my dogs, and they dont ever come off the house, even if a dog, or me, is right in front of their kennel. So why would they come down for a raccoon to grab them. So, what is small enough to get their entire body through the chainlink to get to them? A weasel?? But really, did a little weasel really kill my huge jerk of a rooster? That Roo was nasty even with me.. and I fed him everyday.. and he was HUGE!
I just dont know what to do... I have only 3 girls left. I want to protect them..what the heck is doing this, and how can I stop it? Is the only safe place for chickens something that is totally enclosed on all 4 sides, with no fencing? Like a shed? I have a huge empty barn, that I want to try and use if I can get it more secure, or atleast one stall more secure... but if they are getting through something that is the size of a chainlink opening... ugh. So frustrating.