Lost 5 out of 6 of my flock

[Jack Gutwein]

I woke up this morning and saw one of my reds laying by the gate. Sometimes they dig holes to cool off or what ever. I got curious about her and checked her out. I was devastated all but one of my chickens are dead. I believe it was an owl or a hawk that got them . My rooster's head was missing and one chicken was missing the rest lay dead. My chickens were so tame with me, they followed me where ever I went. May they rest in peace. I am going out to find more RIR's and another rooster. The sad part is I just ordered a new chicken coop and will probably come tomorrow.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

When there are multiple dead birds and not much eaten I would suspect a dog. Sorry, I would be devastated too.

 

[culdesacfarmer]

So sorry. I agree with above. I lost 2 flocks to dogs.

 

[Howard E]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your birds. Curious though how it happened. It sounds like you may have slept in, but if so, how was it the birds were already out and about? Or was there a break in and the birds killed inside a coop but scattered about outside?

Also, aside from just being dead, what were the wounds? There are only a handful of predators that kill all birds in a flock at one time. The three primary culprits are dogs, coons and weasels or one of the weasel cousins. Pattern of wounds helps ID which one.

The point being there would be no point in getting new birds if you were to do what you already did, which resulted in the loss of your flock. We don't want to see you go through that again.