My hen died ;(

[BackyardAnita]

She's the second death of the flock of four. She was our best layer, since she started laying she hasn't missed a day. She also didn't live to be a year old. about two months ago i lost one to a raccoon and today one died form a hawk. There's all kinds of predators out there. There's not much food for the hawks in the winter and they might come back for the rest of their early thanksgiving meal. My hens won't be free ranging for a while. Now i'm left with with two hens.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

Im so sorry about your hen.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

So sorry about your hen. It's always hard losing a chicken to a predator. In the last year I've lost hens to both hawks and raccoons. Mine used to free range all the time. But after the hawk attack, I built a large run onto my coop. They still free range sometimes outside the run, but only with supervision. Since then I've had to deal with raccoons breaking into the coop. I think after much trial and error, I've finally turned it into Fort Knox. I've been predator free for a long spell. Always good to learn from the mistakes, even if it's terribly heartbreaking.

 

[Smoochie]

Sorry about your hen. I've lost my share to hawks over the years. I use to live near someone who bred hawks and Arabians.... his hawks were always perched on top on my coop looking for free lunches. I keep my chickens in "lockdown" over fall and winter in a large coop and run but let them out come spring time. I have some smart game hens who warn everyone of predators and haven't lost any since but I always supervise free range time.

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

I am sorry for your loss