Newbie losing chickens :(

[lyny44]

Hi. I recently became a chicken loving chicken owner and acquired several last month. This job is not for the weak! So far my Cochin was taken by a fox before dusk, 1 golden lace polish died of hyperthermia, the other was killed with two white fuzzy chickens when racoons LIFTED THE COOP'S ELECTRIC DOOR, killed 3 chickens ate 1one and closed the door on the way out. From the outside, there was no indication of the horrible carnage waiting inside. Then today, one of my baby peeps up and died! I had three and saw some blood in the brooder yesterday and noticed she was lethargic so I isolated her. Today she died. My husband wants to get more tonight but I don't think we have a handle on this and I feel like a horrible chicken owner. Anyone have anything constructive to share? Sorry to be such a buzzkill.

 

[DDNONIN2016]

Hello and welcome....so glad you joined BYC

Dont feel alone. Lots of people here have the same troubles. I lost a silkie pullet to a fox a week ago and have gone in debt building my coops and runs like Fort Knox. Chicks and chickens are fragile and can up and die with no warning if they see fit. Hang in there. Give them plenty of room. Good clean well ventilated quarters to sleep in. Quality food and clean water and you will be well on your way to happy healthy chickens. Good luck to you

ETA: Just a 2nd thought on the blood in the brooder. That could be coccidiosis. Are you feeding them medicated chick starter ? Type coccidiosis in the search bar at the top for some detailed info on what you can do for that.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Hi and Welcome to BYC!!!

Glad to have you aboard!!

 

[Crooked-Creek]

Oh my, Sorry for your loss of chickens. Sometimes things like that happen. May I suggest a Raccoon trap. You can relocate the Raccoons, Opossums and/or a Fox far away from your chicken coop after you trap them. Cat food will usually do the trick in getting them caught. Also, install latches on all your doors. Raccoons are real smart animals. No matter what you do, you will always have to deal with predators. We have had good luck with raising our chicks to about five or six weeks of age before we let them out of their pen and start letting them out only a couple of hours before dark with supervision and make sure they all make it back in the pen. If our chickens are free ranging, we know its a must to get back home before dark to lock them up for the night. Life and death for the chickens. Once the sun has set, the predators start searching for an easy meal. As time goes on your chickens since for danger will improve. Some breeds are better at sensing danger than others. Clean water and a well ventilated area is a good suggestion by DDNONIN2016. You will also need plenty of shade to keep them cool on really hot days and a coop that provides warmth for them in the winter. Good Luck with your next batch!!!

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, lyny44, and

! Great to have you aboard! Sorry to hear about your bad luck. As others have stated - sometimes it's just a run of bad luck. Hope you don't give up!

 

[Shellz]

Don't give up! We've been where you are now. This will be my first year out of 4 that I've had NO losses to predators. Foxes hunt whenever the mood strikes them. Most often in broad daylight. Between 10 am & 3 pm. I insist on free ranging my birds all day long from spring until the first snow. Sometimes birds spill feed during the day which brings coons at night. They clean up the bit of feed & move on. I have never lost a bird in their fenced yard or coop, but I know the coons get into the yard. I've caught a few on my trail cam. I guess some coons are more persistent in some areas.

Dogs are great to have if they can be out there all day long. I have no property fence, but my dogs are finally trained not to stray off the property. These are just mutts too. 20lbs & 35lbs. The big one chases off coyotes and now hawks. The little one chases off foxes. I've seen this & its amazing! We added the smaller dog later & she seemed to learn from her big brother.

I'm not a big fan of animal relocation. If said animal had a disease that wasn't apparent, you would be contributing to spreading it elsewhere. Also you could be creating problems for someone else who might have to deal with it. Not to mention, the stress you are putting on that animal to be trapped all night, then to take it somewhere unfamiliar. That animal then has to fight for territory. If you're going to trap an animal (in rural area & legal in defense of livestock), do it a favor & shoot it quick. I hated guns initially, but I now see them as necessary sometimes. In 4 years we've only ever had to shoot one 40lb coyote & a coon with distemper. Just my 2 cents.

 

[lyny44]

Thank you so much for you're responses! I appreciate the support and glad I finally posted. I'm on my way to get a few more .....

 

[Shellz]

Awesome! I know its hard dealing with preds, but don't let them take away the joy of raising chickens!

 

[whiskeytripping]

Get you a 22 rifle, And practice shooting. Almost everything kills chickens. I caught a small chichua dog killing one just the other day. The way i look at it, my chickens are in my yard, and if somethings gonna come on my land and kill my chickens, well thats just a bad deal for them. Good luck on the next batch and dont give up

 

[sdm111]

Kill the predators cause chances are if you do drop them off somewhere they will become someone else's problem and get some corid and medicate all birds and quarantine new birds when you get them and medicate them too.