Lost a young one last night, slightly graphic

[TX Chick Noob]

Found her dead this morning. She is one of the two that are a few weeks younger than my others, she was about 5-6 weeks old not quite fully feathered. They decided to join the older ones on the high roost for the first time last night and I think she may have fallen/been pushed off during the night. I can't tell for sure but she may have a broken leg, don't know what else. At first I thought she had been pecked pretty bad but after cleaning her up a little I think the sliminess/little bit of blood was mostly from ants that were already on her. I know her crop was fairly full when they roosted last night and it feels empty now so didn't happen until after they had been up there awhile. Here is how she was laying when I found her (this was taken outside coop but I put her in the same position).

Here is the small bit of blood that was underneath her beak.

Not sure what to do. Am worried the other small one will get hurt but she will freak out completely if I try to lock her up by herself at night. I had to quit locking them up at night about a week ago because they kept almost hurting themselves trying to get back out with the older ones.

So heartbroken. These are my first chickens and my first loss.

 

[sourland]

Sliminess is generally sign of a snake constricting and trying to swallow a bird larger than it can. My guess is that the bird was killed by a snake.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Oh crap, never considered that. I know the coop isn't totally snake proof, and no way I can make it so it is. But I will check around and see if there is a sign of one getting in last night. We have seen a few rat snakes but most have been really small, we killed the only big one we found.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Looks like you are right. I had looked around after your post but couldn't find anything. My husband got home and searched some more, we found a rat snake under the llamas hay bin in the next stall. It is now dead. Going to have to spread some snake repellent, although I know that doesn't always work.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

I understand about wanting to keep your chickens safe, but killing rat snakes just doesn’t cut it. Rat snakes are great on the farm. They take care of the mice and rats on the farm and will also kill poisonous snakes. I would try to make your coop and run predator proff and leave the snakes.
Mark

 

[WIchickMama]

I understand about wanting to keep your chickens safe, but killing rat snakes just doesn’t cut it. Rat snakes are great on the farm. They take care of the mice and rats on the farm and will also kill poisonous snakes. I would try to make your coop and run predator proff and leave the snakes.
Mark

Agree, they can be more helpful than harmful if the correct precautions are taken. We, thankfully, don't have snakes like that up here but we have other predators that would eat my chickens but also eat the mice and potential rats around here. Secure up the coop like Fort Knox!

 

[TX Chick Noob]

We don't kill rat snakes unless they are caught right at the coop. We agree they are beneficial, especially at helping control rodents, and have ignored several, especially small ones up by the house. Unfortunately since our coop is a converted horse stall there are a few areas we have trouble making completely snake proof. Especially with a corrugated metal roof.

 

[MarkRainbolt]

We don't kill rat snakes unless they are caught right at the coop. We agree they are beneficial, especially at helping control rodents, and have ignored several, especially small ones up by the house. Unfortunately since our coop is a converted horse stall there are a few areas we have trouble making completely snake proof. Especially with a corrugated metal roof.

I understand about corrugated roof but you could put hardware cloth over the openings or pack steel wool in the opening very tight. I wasn’t bashing you about killing the snakes just saying how beneficial they are on a farm.
Mark

 

[TX Chick Noob]

I can't pack the holes because in this climate that is part of our ventilation. We have been trying to figure out how to cover with hardware cloth without putting more holes in the sheet metal.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

Found her dead this morning. She is one of the two that are a few weeks younger than my others, she was about 5-6 weeks old not quite fully feathered. They decided to join the older ones on the high roost for the first time last night and I think she may have fallen/been pushed off during the night. I can't tell for sure but she may have a broken leg, don't know what else. At first I thought she had been pecked pretty bad but after cleaning her up a little I think the sliminess/little bit of blood was mostly from ants that were already on her. I know her crop was fairly full when they roosted last night and it feels empty now so didn't happen until after they had been up there awhile. Here is how she was laying when I found her (this was taken outside coop but I put her in the same position).

View attachment 3140741

Here is the small bit of blood that was underneath her beak.
View attachment 3140742

Not sure what to do. Am worried the other small one will get hurt but she will freak out completely if I try to lock her up by herself at night. I had to quit locking them up at night about a week ago because they kept almost hurting themselves trying to get back out with the older ones.

So heartbroken. These are my first chickens and my first loss.

Sorry for your loss. Do the chicks has roosting bars? a couple levels so they can get high enough off the ground. It may help. And maybe some chicken wire could keep the bigger snakes out & keep the ventilation open. It is always hard the first time, learning what works and what doesn’t work. Good luck!