- Oct 13, 2013
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After watching the election results far too long, I got awoken to the unmistakeable sounds of hen bedlam. Alarm clock read 4:50, so i bounded out of bed, grabbed a rain coat to cover my pjs and stuck my bare feet into my barn shoes that live on the back porch. Remembered to grab the flashlight and picked up a rake as well. Wrenched open the door to find hens throwing themselves at the walls to escape, everyone screaming, Roos still on highest roosts, and no apparent cause. No signs of injury, no signs of break-in, so I am perplexed. I did see one hen crowded into a corner being squished by others on top of her, but removed them, and she seems fine. My coop is raised about 20 inches off the ground w a pallet floor. I have a pretty deep bed of straw over that and the only disturbance to the bedding was right under the hanging feeder where the hens scratch. This is the only ingress point i can see. The coop in surrounded by chain link fence covered w netting above, and has V hardware cloth buried and running up the chain link to about 8 inches. I thought i had fort knox. I have thin strips on either side of the 2 gates that i suppose could of let a squirrel sized predator in, and then he could of limboed up thru the pallets? Why don't i see any injuries tho? It was pouring rain last night so i do not think they got spooked from the sound of a predator outside the fence because i have the polyvinyl panels on the roof and the rain drumming on that would of drowned out any noise. Worried about tonight, i added hardware cloth to the area under the feeder but do not have enough to cover entire floor. Any thoughts on what I am facing? Suburban area, in northeastern Ohio. I have never seen a mink or weasel in my life around here and i do have a small herd of cats that have excellent rodent skills.
