Lost my Girls

[Bizzybirdy]

You really need to run smaller wire around the bottom of the kennel, racoons will pull a chicken through chain link piece by piece. Also, I would run a hot wire around the outside, starting 6" from the ground. This will stop most ground predators.

So sorry for your loss. Chickens need to be put up in a good, SAFE coop/house at night or one can expect terrible consequences.

 

[MaggieRae]

Sorry for your loss. Often people will say insincere things such as "It's just a chicken," But they never really are 'just a chicken'. Could be a raccoon, but I doubt they'd clean the bones like that. I don't think an opossum would do that either.. We have foxes, and they can do that. Maybe a skunk, but I wouldn't know as I've never dealt with them. Coyotes are a possibility, but you should be able to see bite marks on the bones.
Again, I'm sorry you went through this.

 

[the Old Rebel]

I'm soooooo sorry for your losses.

I've had too many this year myself.

Just a note, others have mentioned about a raccoon reaching through wire and dismembering a chicken. Trust me, it happens. But the worst predator, to me, is the weasel or mink. Please check around to see if you have them in your area. If so, you'll need to cover your entire dog run with 1/2" hardware cloth or a weasel/mink can waltz right through. A coop is a great idea for enhancing their safety at night, but if there is a hole a mouse can fit through, a weasel or mink can get through it too. You might want to consider keeping your chicken in a dog crate in your room. I have 76 birds and I'm seriously considering bringing them in somehow.

Also, I'm curious as to what killed the opossum. If the possum got your chicken, what got the possum??

Good luck to you. Welcome to BYC. So sorry it was under these circumstances.

 

[Imp]

So sorry for your loss.

When I first got chickens my backyard was completely fenced mostly with chainlink. The corners around the gates etc were large enough that the chickens a few times wiggled through. I added extra clamps and sections of pipe to fill in the gaps. I worried that if the chickens could get out, a predator could get in. Good luck and thank you for taking in the rescue.

Imp- and

 

[kari_dawn]

Quote:
I actually am not sure. I work the evening shift from three to eleven thirty, and my chickens are in the hands of my family while I am not there. I do not know for certain if it was durring the day time or the night, because I get up around ten or eleven and leave the house by two thirty, and dont get home until after midnight most nights so the discoveries were made about mid day, which would encompass both crepuscular and nocturnal animals, and even possibly diurnal.

This is my current impromptu setup (Sorry if I was not supposed to post pictures). I didnt check the bones extensively for bite marks, but I will do that...I was so upset that I just left the bones in the yard. I couldnt bring myself to move them any further. And that was one of my questions too. If the opossum possibly tried to go after my girls, what got him? and if raccoons and opossums dont really clean off the bones like that, does that mean I am dealing with a fox?

I dont really have an option of doing a hot wire, but I could do some smaller mesh around the perimeter. Do I need to put it over the top too? The mesh on top is two by four. It is wired to the kennel every foot, and there are two ten foot posts across the top with the "roof" wired to them to help deture sagging, and to re-enforce the metal water shed. I am also slowly placing landscaping brick two high around the base.

Thanks so much for all of your replies, sympathies, and suggestions. I really appreciate it, and hope to see the advice keep coming. I would hate to loose my last girl before I can get her some more companions.

 

[Cetawin]

I am sorry for your losses and that is a beautiful little girl you have there.

I also have a chainlink run...what I did, which has worked for over a year with no losses or even anything getting into the run...

I ran 1" chicken wire on the inside of the chainlink attached with fencing ties, that went from 3' high down and under the chainlink and out about 2 feet...it was stapled down to the ground with landscape staples...I did this in two layers overlapping so there is not a large opening anywhere. It also keep diggers from digging under the chain link.

Coons, fox, coyotes and weasel will dig in and then your little girl has nowhere to get away from them for sure. I would have a little hutch that she could be closed up in at night...

the top looks good, the only thing I can see getting in through that would be a snake or a rat but you can always reinforce that by adding screen or shade cloth up there too.

 

[kari_dawn]

Thank you! I think she is beautiful too! I love her very much...she isnt laying eggs yet, but that may be coming soon? By the way, do you happen to know what her coloring is called?

I actually was just thinking about a hutch today, but I at a loss as to the construction/how too of an enclosable hutch...I am on somewhat of a limited budget, and just spent a good chunk of money (only around $215.00, but on my meger earnings, it will be a while before I can afford to do too much more extensive work) on this kennel/coop. I would really like to take the roost/nest box and enclose it, but I am just not sure how. My father was nice enough to build that for me, but he isnt available to do any more building for me.

(On a side note, how many hens do you think would comfortably be able to stay in this space? Waffle is lonely!)

 

[kari_dawn]

I know it's been a while since I posted this, but I felt like I should update. Waffle thrived in this coop with some new buddies, and lived to the age of three. My family left the run door open, and all I found were the remains of my other two girls. No signs of Waffle. I am hooked on chickens now, so even with the sadness of loosing my very favorite girl (who laid the most spectacular sky blue eggs by the way), I ordered more babies.

Several nights ago, a raccoon attacked. No one was hurt, and I caught the little bugger in my jammies in the dark. As I was catching him, I could hear a chicken that sounded very suspiciously like Waffle down the road....so maybe she survived, and another family found her and was carring for her...but unfortunately, it sounded like that chicken was also being attacked. I could not locate exactly where the commotion was coming from, but I do know Waffle was a fighter.

I now have new girls, but they are nothing like Waffle and Butter (my buff orpington). They are not nearly as social or smart. I am hoping that as they reach laying age, that will change (plus there are more babies in a brooder in my closet! I am working with them every day to try to make them more friendly than my older girls).

There is nothing I can do...I am hooked on chickens. 14 in my brooder, 5 POL pullets in my coop. BLRW, BCM, EE, BO, Polish, Speckled Sussex, and a Salmon Faverolle. I had a very stern talk with my family, and let them know that if they want the chickens to free range, they MUST close the coop at dusk, or don't let them out. I will not loose any more birds due to reasons that should be within my control. Now, if I could just convince my POL to buck up and start laying!

 

[goobhen]

Chickens jus steal a little piece of your heart, don't they! Good luck with your new ones. We forgot to close the coop door one night, no one died, but we were lucky! We are getting ready to put an electric wire on the top and bottom of our chicken run. We have the box for the line, just need to get new wire. Anyway, have a fun time with your chickens! Theresa