Lost my chickens

[maremare86]

Hello all. Let me start off by saying thank you to all of you who are active here. Every time I have a question I come on here and it has been answered or has been answered before. I'm new and just registered because I see what kind of community this appears to be. I'm lamenting over my chickens this morning. You see, I don't have a lot of land- less than an acre and my neighbors are close by. Even getting chickens took me talking to be neighbors making sure they were all good with it. I purchased 5 chicks from a local farm and was so excited. I've actually been quite obsessed with them and enjoyed watching them. This morning I went out to feed them and found a massacre. Three of my ladies were gone and only feathers left as evidence. So I'm standing here all sad thinking I've failed my ladies. thanks for listening.

 

[chicapee]

Sorry for your loss. Do you know what the culprit was? We built our chicken house and run like fort knox. I hope it's predator proof but you really don't know until it fails. I have been lucky so far. So sad.

 

[Condi]

I am sorry. I lost a few to predators and you do take it personally, but in reality we have to look back and if we did the best that we knew at the time we knew it, then we cannot take it personally. I lost another one yesterday and pouted and cried over the fact. I didn't pout over the loss of the chicken, I pouted over feeling incompetent in my duties to keep my girls safe, but as a first time chicken owner I have a whole lot to learn, so we are redesigning the coop, and I have new chicks in the incubator so I am not willing to give in and give up.

 

[ChickenMammX4]

I'm sorry this happened to your girls. I too am new to raising chickens and am obsessive about keeping them safe. We have just about every predator other than bears & large cats. When my husband built the run and re-purposed an existing shed, I know he thought I was nuts and calls it Ft. Knox. I still wonder each morning as I go up to check on them if they're OK even though they've been locked in the coop all night.

 

[bobbi-j]

Can you post a picture of your coop? Maybe if we can see it we can offer suggestions to help you strengthen it against predators in the future.