Lost a Rooster Today - Graphic!

Sorry for your loss of Little John .. we had our hens out about a week or so ago running the yard as it was a beautiful day here in Southern Ont. (which is very unusual) My Husband spied a RTH in the trees behind out house out little Silkie Roo had be making a fuss, thank fully we got everyone back in the coop before one of them ended up being dInner for the hawk
I hope you find a suitable Roo for your ladies
 
Sorry for your loss of Little John .. we had our hens out about a week or so ago running the yard as it was a beautiful day here in Southern Ont. (which is very unusual) My Husband spied a RTH in the trees behind out house out little Silkie Roo had be making a fuss, thank fully we got everyone back in the coop before one of them ended up being dInner for the hawk
I hope you find a suitable Roo for your ladies

Thank you! Glad you didn't lose any of your Silkies! We've ordered some day-olds, Black Australorps and a Black Jersey Giant to arrive mid-February. I'm really looking forward to adding a BJG rooster to my flock, but it'll be months before he'll be a good "wing man" for Silverwings. Guess Silver will just have to wing it on his own for a while. Ow! Lol, somebody slap me!
 
Thank you! Glad you didn't lose any of your Silkies! We've ordered some day-olds, Black Australorps and a Black Jersey Giant to arrive mid-February. I'm really looking forward to adding a BJG rooster to my flock, but it'll be months before he'll be a good "wing man" for Silverwings. Guess Silver will just have to wing it on his own for a while. Ow! Lol, somebody slap me!
@BigBlueHen53 Where do you order your birds? I saw some online and they were $50 a chick..wow :rolleyes: and I was wondering if there were cheaper options or if that is just the price you pay for online birds.
 
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@BigBlueHen53 Where do you order your birds? I saw some online and they were $50 a chick..wow :rolleyes: and I was wondering if there were cheaper options or if that is just the price you pay for online birds.

Mercy, no! $50 for a chick!?! Must be exotics. I have purchased from Meyer Hatchery in Ohio but this time I went with Cackle Hatchery here in MO so they won't be in transit so long. Because I don't purchase very many, they run around $3.50 each. A started pullet would cost a lot more, but day-olds are extremely reasonable. Last year I got EEs, they have been my go-to breed.
 
No pics, just a somewhat graphic description, so if this might trouble you, you may excuse yourself now. We don't lose birds often so this surprised me, it was during daylight hours, probably between noon and two pm. We are isolated, no near neighbors, so not a dog. Conditions were quite cold, overcast and beginning to snow, very light, thin flurries that won't amount to much. I looked out my kitchen window and saw what appeared to be my not-quite year-old rooster, Littlejohn, lying still and dead. This was about 2:30. I grabbed a jacket and went out to check. This is the graphic part. Some of his tail feathers were pulled off, lying right behind him, and about half his head was eaten, starting with the eye. Does this sound like the work of a red-tailed hawk who killed him and then was unable to carry him away? I have seen a RTH in the vicinity lately. The only other daytime predators we usually experience are raccoons, but they typically show up around dusk and carry the birds through the fence. This was closer to the middle of the big yard. It wasn't time to free-range yet. I usually let them out about 3:00.

All the birds were huddled in the smaller pen and hen house with the older rooster, Silverwings. I think he hustled the girls to safety while Littlejohn did battle from the rear. Sigh. Now I need to find another good roo as backup for Silver. I'll be keeping everyone in the two little pens for a while until the RTH moves on again.

Thanks, I think I just wanted to talk about it. Now I'm sad. Anybody near me have a spare rooster that's not a jerk?
so sorry for your beautiful "Littlejohn" and you. He must have been terr ified, poor darling. them
My girl had her neck ripped apart today by a hawk, I caught it in the act so my girl is alive but what a freaking mess her neck is. Ripped the feather holding skin away 3/4 of the circumference of her neck. cleaned her up, meds, etc. Trouble holding head up, maybe muscle torn too. No internal neck structures damaged I think. Reassess tomorro. She's in our house tonight. In so. NH.
 
so sorry for your beautiful "Littlejohn" and you. He must have been terr ified, poor darling. them
My girl had her neck ripped apart today by a hawk, I caught it in the act so my girl is alive but what a freaking mess her neck is. Ripped the feather holding skin away 3/4 of the circumference of her neck. cleaned her up, meds, etc. Trouble holding head up, maybe muscle torn too. No internal neck structures damaged I think. Reassess tomorro. She's in our house tonight. In so. NH.

Yikes, what a mess. Hope she pulls through okay. I prefer to think Littlejohn was enraged, not terrified, but we tend to anthropomorphize and project our own emotional states onto our animals. I'm usually pretty calm and laid back, but if anybody messes with what's mine, I'm a raging dragon. So I imagine LJ thinking, "Not MY girls, not today!" And then BAM it was over. It gives me comfort.
 
so sorry for your beautiful "Littlejohn" and you. He must have been terr ified, poor darling. them
My girl had her neck ripped apart today by a hawk, I caught it in the act so my girl is alive but what a freaking mess her neck is. Ripped the feather holding skin away 3/4 of the circumference of her neck. cleaned her up, meds, etc. Trouble holding head up, maybe muscle torn too. No internal neck structures damaged I think. Reassess tomorro. She's in our house tonight. In so. NH.
Ouch...hope she gets better soon. Do you have Vetericyn? That stuff is a spray and heals wounds really fast. When Mable's skin was ripped open by the raccoon that stuff worked really well.
 
Ended up taking her to an avian vet who sees fair amt of chickend. She said hen would have gotten badly infected cuz the way the flap was sitting feathers were inside. They had to remove feathers and do a good cleaning and looksee. Vet wants it left open to heal, exposure to air. There an area of flap uneven edged area at nape of neck that may not adhere. Time wk!I tell. If not she'll need aanesthesia and trimming of edges and stitches. Edges must be trimmed or won't approximate a nd heal together she said. Too painful without anesthesia. Hen is on antiniotic, oral pain med + Hibiclen wash/ pat to wound 2x day. She recieved an IM injection to breast of pain med. They were amazed how bad her attack was. Their second chicken hawk attack this wk. Mine unfortunately much worse. 309$. To be seen in one wk.. Don't have a fun for my free ranging birds. Now scared to let them out alone.Can't stay out w them all day What to do?
 

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