Hi everyone,
I wrote this post earlier but I can't find it, so I'm trying again. Last night, we got back from vacation, and I found we were missing one hen, and my beloved ridiculously funny rooster. This morning, I found the poor hen hiding in the rain, under the grill. She had a wound in the back of her neck, about the size of a nickel. It actually did not look fresh. But she was also missing tons of feathers and some skin from her back, and had multiple small-ish bite wounds all over her hindquarters. Her belly and crop were distended and tender, and she was regurgitating. She has since died.
I found a pile of her feathers between our house and the neighbor's house. This is the brushy area where the hens always sit under cover during the day.
I looked everywhere and could not find a single trace of my roo, Mr. Chester. Then I listened to a phone message - my neighbor letting me know that he had just found one of his dogs eating a dead chicken. (Eating Mr. Chester! Waah!) My neighbor mentioned that he knew his dogs would chase the chickens but he didn't think they'd ever hurt them. Not true - I have pulled a hen from his dogs' mouths in the past.
Do these wounds sound like something a dog would do? The hen was attacked on my property, judging by the pile of feathers. But I see not a single feather, absolutely no evidence that Mr. Chester was attacked here. It's possible that the chickens were in the neighbor's yard, and maybe the 3 dogs chased them, catching one in their yard, and one in my yard.
Or do you think it's more likely that something killed Mr. Chester and dragged him into their yard, then possibly got scared by the dogs? I am trying to piece this back together, not only for peace of mind, but also so I can figure out how to prevent any more horror and sadness! Thanks everyone.
I wrote this post earlier but I can't find it, so I'm trying again. Last night, we got back from vacation, and I found we were missing one hen, and my beloved ridiculously funny rooster. This morning, I found the poor hen hiding in the rain, under the grill. She had a wound in the back of her neck, about the size of a nickel. It actually did not look fresh. But she was also missing tons of feathers and some skin from her back, and had multiple small-ish bite wounds all over her hindquarters. Her belly and crop were distended and tender, and she was regurgitating. She has since died.
I found a pile of her feathers between our house and the neighbor's house. This is the brushy area where the hens always sit under cover during the day.
I looked everywhere and could not find a single trace of my roo, Mr. Chester. Then I listened to a phone message - my neighbor letting me know that he had just found one of his dogs eating a dead chicken. (Eating Mr. Chester! Waah!) My neighbor mentioned that he knew his dogs would chase the chickens but he didn't think they'd ever hurt them. Not true - I have pulled a hen from his dogs' mouths in the past.
Do these wounds sound like something a dog would do? The hen was attacked on my property, judging by the pile of feathers. But I see not a single feather, absolutely no evidence that Mr. Chester was attacked here. It's possible that the chickens were in the neighbor's yard, and maybe the 3 dogs chased them, catching one in their yard, and one in my yard.
Or do you think it's more likely that something killed Mr. Chester and dragged him into their yard, then possibly got scared by the dogs? I am trying to piece this back together, not only for peace of mind, but also so I can figure out how to prevent any more horror and sadness! Thanks everyone.
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