Lost my 2 Rocks this morning

[aart]

That changes things, thought we were talking about full grown birds.
Lots of thing could fit thru a smaller opening and carry of a chicks that size.

 

[WesleyBeal]

Big Ginny, woke us up this morning being louder than normal, and I ran out there and my 2 young Rocks were gone. not a lot blood but feathers another bigger piece of feather's attached to a little skin.

. there are no dig marks around the chain like kennel, and i had that somewhat protected, until i could get them into their new coop, I'm thinking snake, but how did he get 2 chickens at once? the blood was fresh, so i figured it was just before dawn.

I can't see a snake leaving blood and feathers around. A few stray, loose feathers, but it wouldn't leave a piece of skin with feathers attached. Snakes swallow their food whole; they kill by constricting so there's no or very little blood (possibly a drop or two, but no more).

 

[missy1971]

 
Big Ginny, woke us up this morning being louder than normal, and I ran out there and my 2 young Rocks were gone. not a lot blood but feathers another bigger piece of feather's attached to a little skin.  . there are no dig marks around the chain like kennel, and  i had that somewhat protected, until i could get them into their new coop, I'm thinking snake, but how did he get 2 chickens at once? the blood was fresh, so i figured it was just before dawn. 

I can't see a snake leaving blood and feathers around. A few stray, loose feathers, but it wouldn't leave a piece of skin with feathers attached. Snakes swallow their food whole; they kill by constricting so there's no or very little blood (possibly a drop or two, but no more).

I thought of that, honestly I'm stumped

 

[Zoomie]

I would guess raccoon. They can easily reach through the wire on a dog kennel that's made of chain link. They reach through, grab and pull, and with chicks that small they can pull them right through even though it might take a couple of tries and a couple of pieces. The chicks would be helpless after the first grab and would have to just lay there and get ripped apart.

In a secure coop they should be OK. If they are outside at night be sure and double up your wire - a layer outside, then 2" or so and another layer of wire. That way the raccoons can not get hold of them.

The worst thing about a raccoon attack is when they reach through the wire and then pull off part of the animal, not killing it but making it so that YOU have to put the poor thing out of it's misery when you get up in the morning.

Best of luck with the new coop.

 

[missy1971]

Ok wow, that description just made me more sad..although, as I was taking more security measures , I was thinking to myself people already think I'm nuts with how I want my babies area, I'm OCD , put it this way, I screwed 2x4' on all sides for a temp fix until tomorrow. When people say something, like I'm nuts, I tell them that they are mine And mine alone, i take care of them completely and that I bought them/rescued and they depend on me to keep them safe ! I'm getting a motion detector light, and hopefully a game cam soon. Now I have a baby monitor..

 

[Zoomie]

@missy1971 I'm so sorry, I did not mean to make you feel sad... BUT, you should have that information, so you can keep those birds safe!

Yes, I had terrible problems with raccoons, reaching through the wire etc. so that one of my runs was a cube of chain link (in other words, on the bottom too, buried deep, as well as the 4 sides and the top) and then 3" in, another cube, but this time of hardware cloth. (It was for pheasants, not chickens.) Ha! THAT stopped the raccoons! They absolutely could not reach the birds in there no matter how much they tried and OH how they tried. I had to make certain that the edges and any seams were really secure but it did the trick. Remember that raccoons are really strong, and have been known to rip siding off a barn to get to birds. Build very strong! Stronger than you think you need. And don't let anyone tell you that you are crazy, they do not realize how determined a predator can be.

Try not to feel sad but do try and make your coop absolutely TIGHT and SECURE. Then you can rest easy, knowing your birds are safe!

 

[missy1971]

Oh no, I was just sad I lost My girls, and to think of them suffering, breaks my heart. I'm making the coop very secire, but is there anything else, and added protection that could deter them?

 

[Zoomie]

Oh no, I was just sad I lost My girls, and to think of them suffering, breaks my heart. I'm making the coop very secire, but is there anything else, and added protection that could deter them?

You could also put up an electric fence... Premier sells some nice poultry netting and they even have solar chargers they sell for them. If it's set up pretty close to the coop and run, so that they can't get between the two, that can work real well to send the message that they should look for lunch elsewhere, and also helps to stop them climbing on your coop and run trying to get in.

You can't really stop predators from coming around. All the time they are having babies and those youngsters are out looking for new territory to hunt. They are incredibly intelligent, actually, and are not fooled for long by scarecrows or lights etc. Your best bet is first, a very strong coop and run that can't be dug into or gotten into in any way, and second, a good electric fence will really help to keep them from trying for long. Of course the next one comes along and has to be educated etc, forever, but a good strong facility is a great way to get a good night's sleep.

 

[missy1971]

Oh no, I was just sad I lost My girls, and to think of them suffering, breaks my heart. I'm making the coop very secire, but is there anything else, and added protection that could deter them?

You could also put up an electric fence... Premier sells some nice poultry netting and they even have solar chargers they sell for them. If it's set up pretty close to the coop and run, so that they can't get between the two, that can work real well to send the message that they should look for lunch elsewhere, and also helps to stop them climbing on your coop and run trying to get in. 

You can't really stop predators from coming around. All the time they are having babies and those youngsters are out looking for new territory to hunt. They are incredibly intelligent, actually, and are not fooled for long by scarecrows or lights etc. Your best bet is first, a very strong coop and run that can't be dug into or gotten into in any way, and second, a good electric fence will really help to keep them from trying for long. Of course the next one comes along and has to be educated etc, forever, but a good strong facility is a great way to get a good night's sleep. 

Yes!hopefully I can maybe find one cheap on ebay