PLEASE HELP ME! Face being eaten? Beaks gone???? Help! GRAPHIC PICS!!!

[sourland]

Live trap, live trap, live trap! Good luck on resolving a horrible situation.

 

[char259]

Thinking of you first thing this morning..... ((((hugs))))

 

[crawfordmama]

I'm so sorry this is happening to you and your girls. I am horrified by the pictures of your poor girl. My gut reaction was that it was due to a genetic flaw, bacteria or virus. But I suppose it could be anything. I really hope you can find the source and eliminate it.

 

[Heathero617]

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Please be very careful when in close contact with raccoons. In my state (Alabama) if you get in close contact with one it's automatically recommended that you do the rabies treatment because it's such a huge problem here.

I used to think of them as cute little creatures and even though they are doing what nature intended (well, in a way at least) it's still pretty vicious.

Thats just super odd considering it can not be transmitted unless you are bitten and sometimes possibly scratched by them. It isnt transmitted by look or touch. Eessh Id question anyone with authority who would make such an uneducated recomendation!!!

Just be careful of the animal so you do not get bitten or scratched should be enough.

 

[LehighGal]

Whatever happened with this chicken owner? Did you catch the culprit?

 

[quetsweyo]

Did you get your camera up and running yesterday? I think we're all anxious to solve this one. Thought about you and yours a lot last night, bless you. I used to disapprove of varminting but things sure change quickly when its your babies at stake. Good luck! Quetsweyo

 

[CrazyChickensEverwhere]

You would think there would be more blood. Thats Why I think its a diease. If a "predator" reacted it there like that there would be a lot of blood.

 

[Smokin Silkies]

Yes, the beak is completely gone with some of the face too. The eyes are still there...less than 1/4" and they may not have been. The first chicken that this happened still had some of its beak left. The eye was swollen shut..not sure if it got scratched? If its infected? I didn't see any pus or anything..it was just closed. The fence rail is about a foot away from the window and its probably about 1 1/2 feet from the roof to the top of the window. The chicken you see in the window is actually standing on top of the waterer. They can't see out the window if they are standing at the bottom of the coop. They sleep at the bottom also. So I'd guess if something was to be pulling them through the wire...they chickens would have to be standing right under the window or on top of the waterer. They always sleep in the corner of the bottom of the coop so I know for sure no animal has arms long enough to reach in like that when they're laying down. My friend was unable to come up yesterday to cut my Lilac bush but will be here around 4 today. I also didn't have time to cut hardware cloth or wood & put it up so I put plastic up real quick. My kids were sick yesterday and my little baby was just non stop crying. It was almost impossible to get anything done. Nothing happened over the night thank goodness. My 15 yr old daughter is now here (was supposed to come home yesterday so I can fix the coops) so I'm going to be going down there in a few to fix them up. I'll have to look into a game cam because my camera now doesn't have good night vision for the distance. It shows bigger things (person, dog) but not smaller things like possums. I'm also going to find a trap and set it up down there. When I had the chickens in our upper yard, we set traps and always caught raccoons..but I also saw two younger possums a couple years ago up there too.

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[Smokin Silkies]

Yeah, thats what I thought too?!?! I even searched through the shavings and didn't find any blood or anything. Even the little Lav girl that did have blood on her, it was just a very small amount. I wonder what kind of disease it could be...if it is? A previous poster put up a link about "rotting beaks" but this happened way too quickly for it to be that. I saw NO symptoms of any kind before.

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[klf73]

when I first saw the pics before really reading I thought syphilis, it works quick but I wasn't sure if chickens can contract it?