Hello! I'm new here and new to raising chickens. We had 10 (10-week old) Leghorns that have an enclosed coop (with a small run) that free-range during the day (and have since they were 6 weeks old). The coop is backed up against a hedge of bushes (to protect from raptors) and is adjacent to a few acres of wooded land. This is the area where we have encountered problems.
Friday we lost sweet our little deformed runt, PeeWee. I went out after dinner to do a head count (the girls are very prompt about getting into the coop and roosting by dusk) and only had 9. I was hoping PeeWee was roosting in some brush, but never found any sign of her; no debris field and no body. Yesterday, between the hours of 9a-noon we lost another one. It started to rain, so I went out to make sure they were all in the coop and the head count came back at 8. Later in the evening I was walking around trying to see if I could find her roosting (hope against hope, again) and found some feathers and then located her headless body. On my way, a big gray tom cat passed me and ran into those woods, not sure if he is the culprit or not, but the body was located in some pretty heavy brush, so I'm assuming it was not a bird of prey.
I'm so beside myself. I was reading that we might want to get a rooster - any thoughts on that? I'm not interested in chicks, but if we collect eggs every day, I'm assuming that won't be a problem (until they come following their mama out from the woods ). They LOVE ranging, but I don't want to lose any more.
Friday we lost sweet our little deformed runt, PeeWee. I went out after dinner to do a head count (the girls are very prompt about getting into the coop and roosting by dusk) and only had 9. I was hoping PeeWee was roosting in some brush, but never found any sign of her; no debris field and no body. Yesterday, between the hours of 9a-noon we lost another one. It started to rain, so I went out to make sure they were all in the coop and the head count came back at 8. Later in the evening I was walking around trying to see if I could find her roosting (hope against hope, again) and found some feathers and then located her headless body. On my way, a big gray tom cat passed me and ran into those woods, not sure if he is the culprit or not, but the body was located in some pretty heavy brush, so I'm assuming it was not a bird of prey.
I'm so beside myself. I was reading that we might want to get a rooster - any thoughts on that? I'm not interested in chicks, but if we collect eggs every day, I'm assuming that won't be a problem (until they come following their mama out from the woods ). They LOVE ranging, but I don't want to lose any more.