Guys, guys, guys. Yesterday was THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. Definitely the single most terrible and emotional day of my chicken keeping. I have been raising chickens for over three years, this year is my first with layers, but I have been raising broilers for 3 years. I have never had a SINGLE predator attack. So, since I have been raising them for so long with no problems, I am not quite as strict about completely surrounding the portable hoop houses with cinder blocks and I only cover up the gaps. 2 nights ago, something dug where there was not a cinder block, upon getting inside, it killed 5 of my 8 Golden Laced Wyandotte pullets (9 weeks old) and injured one of my 7 Partridge Plymouth rocks. It did it so cleanly, there was no blood anywhere, some of them were still in sleeping positions with their heads under their wings, after VERY close scrutinizing, I managed to find a little bit of evidence on them like maybe a few missing feathers, or 1 or 2 puncture wounds. None of the wounds looked like enough to kill them, just something that would need some Silver Sulfadiazine cream, and they would be fine. When I found my Partridge rock baby (her name is Rey) I thought she was dead, her neck was twisted underneath her and she was in the pile of dead chickens(whatever it was piled them up once it was done with them)I picked her up by her feet to put her outside to bury her and she barely moved. I thought it was just reflexes, but as I set her down to examine her, she was alive, I did not think she would live, so I decided not to give her special attention, and figured she would die in a few minutes. I was still trying to figure out if they had smothered each other, (Not very likely in the middle of August, with a nice coat of feathers) a disease had killed them, (nobody had been acting sick at all) or a predator(NO BLOOD ANYWHERE!!) After I finally figured out it was a predator and buried the others, she was still alive. I am one that can not kill anything and always give anything that is even remotely alive a sporting chance to live, so I set her up a box in the office. She is still alive 36 hours later. I do not think any bones are broken. But she can barely stand up and she is still in shock. Oh, I cried so much, every time I looked at that pile of golden feathers I started crying again. Does anybody know what predator this was? I am inclined to think weasel. Whatever it was killed for sport, because there was nothing missing on any of them.
