one hen left after coyote attack - what to do?

[Mrs. K]

Call your sheriff, a pack of dogs or coyotes in town or a small community is not safe. They have lost their fear of humans. They need to be removed.
Packs can be very dangerous.

As for the chicken, I would look around locally and get someone to sell you a couple of laying hens and integrate them right away. There is the risk of disease, but you only have one left, so not like you could lose a whole large flock. Take a good look at the new ones, and check for mites and lice. But a single chicken in a hen house does not make enough heat to keep a coop warm. It doesn't say where you are from, but winter is coming quick.

I had coons get in my house 2+ years ago, took me down to 2 hens. Ugh! So I did get some more hens real quick.

mk

 

[craftychicken]

Just to update: We have been keeping our hen in the coop full time, except when we are in the yard, we let her out to roam around; always keeping a watchful eye. We have not seen or heard again from the coyote yet. Brownie seems to be doing OK. She is still eating and laying well. I liked the idea of using the garage as a quarantine space, but my SO pointed out that it is probably too dark in there. Also, it would be hard, as we both work full time, and it is going to get dark so early now. We were thinking to start working on a bigger enclosure and start from scratch with some new chicks. We just don't have proper temporary housing for introducing a new hen. By the time we get the new coop done, we can move Brownie in there, and then place the grown chicks in the old coop until they are big enough to mingle with her.

I live in San Diego, so it does not get too cold. Currently the lows are at about 50F. It did not occur to me that a single body mass would not be enough warmth.

Brownie does not seem to be exhibiting any different behavior. What are some signs that a hen is too lonely and/or too cold?

Thanks again for all your comments and support.

 

[7L Farm]

First thing I would do is get a gun. I personally kill any thing that attacks my livestock. Others want to re-locate not me . I live on a farm & do not have time to re-locate something that's killing my livestock. That's just me.