Lost 4 Chickens this week.

[Emzyyy]

And now I have blocked the run off and they will have to stay in the coop because I am pretty sure thats where the pest is getting in through. Two disapeared without a trace on the same day a couple days back. Two silkies. No feathers or anything, kind of suspicous. This morning I walked into the coop to feed them and they all came running but two. So I went out into the run and found poor Isabella my Silver Sebright hen laying on the ground and Charlie my Buff Polish Rooster half pulled through the fence with his head completly missing and most of his insides eaten out, and I still had to pull pretty hard to get him outta the fence to throw him away. I have no idea how a bird THAT big was pulled through a hole THAT small. Its baffling.

Anyway I'll just have to let them out when I am home now for a little free ranging so I can watch them. Poor birds I am sure the racket of Charlie being pulled through the fence like that scared them.

I haven't had predator problems in a long time. I guess no one gets off the hook for too long.

 

[gsim]

What a ghastly sight to walk in on. I have dreaded that since beginning in poultry last spring. I hope to never see it. Having read of so much heartbreaking sights on this forum, I determined to build Ft Knox for the coop and Alcatraz for the run. I electrified mine and have not regretted it. A good defense for coons is to install a 24' tall run of hardware cloth mesh at ground level all around. They cannot reach through that nor rip it out. It turns back rats and snakes too unless they climb over.

Coons are notorious for pulling chooks through fences in pieces. Chooks are notorious for poking their heads thru any opening in a fence that is available. A recent post on here related an incident that told of a fox doing that as well. I once read a post that even had the opinion that an owl had done something similar, which baffles me.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

for you and the chickens. That is upsetting!

Yes, coons are well known for pulling victims thru the fence.

 

[bargain]

I'm so so sorry....Can you put up a smaller type of wire so they cannot put their heads out.....I bet it's a dog......Take care.

 

[Emzyyy]

I don't think a dog would actually eat the chicken though. They usually only play with them and don't mean to actually kill them. I know our neighbor's a couple years back woke up to a thump and looked out the window and a racoon had fallen off their roof and hit the patio, scared them they thought someone was trying to break in. We do have Coyotee (however you spell it) issues around here. A neighbor's husky was attacked and almost killed.

 

[fordmommy]

Pulling chickens through fences are raccoons.

You should go invest in smaller gaged wire for the lower 1-2 feet of your run. And find out how they're getting in. raccoons are like mice and cats, if they can get their head in there, their bodies will fit too.

 

[Emzyyy]

Quote:
I think the best would be just getting rid of most of the chickens until I can get the run fixed up. I haven't decided yet. Or just getting a smaller coop and run its easier to manage and just have two or three birds. They get more attention that way, and getting more birds would be a bad idea if I go off to college in three years time because my parents are not going to take care of them so I'll end up having to get rid of them anyways. Don't get me wrong I love my birds.

 

[annie3001]

sorry for your loss..