Hello everyone, My wife and I started a small flock of birds a year and a half ago. We are in in Central Ontario in Canada so things can get really cold up here. We had a flock of 40 hens (50-50 mix of Plymouth Barred Rocks and Black sex-links (Black Stars)) and we have been having good egg production usually 80-85%. In the last week and a half (mid January '16) we have lost 5 chickens to pecking on the neck only? No aggression from any chickens observed, none eating the dead ones observed. Could there be something else in coop? Many Thanks
Hi Glad you could join the flock! I'm sorry to hear you have lost some of your flock members As you say pecking to the neck are the dead birds showing injuries there? Or is just feather loss? It sure does sound like something could be getting at your birds, do you have them in a secure area and secure coop on a night? Are the birds dying during the day or on a night? You might like to also drop by the predator section, here is the link ~https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/13/predators-and-pests I hope you are able to find out what is happening and that you don't lose anymore
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Black Sex Links are my personal favorite hens as they are very friendly and hardy laying machines that consistently churn out more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year. I'm sorry about the loss of your hens and hope you can discover what the culprit is. It's always sad to lose some of our flock. ( There is a good article at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/07/11-tips-for-predator-proofing-chickens.html on predator proofing your chickens. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
You might want to post in detail in the predator section. They can often tell you what animal it was by their M.O. if it is just wounds around the neck - are you finding any blood signs? Weasels and minks - like to drink their blood. An owl would feed on the bird or carry it off.
Welcome to BYC but sorry circumstances are not better. I wish you all the best in finding or more importantly, stopping the predator from entering your coop. Ct
I'm sorry about the loss of some of your birds. Please post on the predator/pest forum and see if someone can give you an idea of what is killing your chickens. This link may also help you id the predator: http://www.raising-chickens.org/chicken-predators.html Thank you for joining us and I wish you all the best of luck!
Hello! Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC. So sorry for your losses. X2 on drumstick diva.
