Sad day, need help

[CBsFutureFarm]

Good morning everyone. I was an avid user of this site years ago and then my flock died so I haven't visited in a while. I recently got a new flock, but had a sad night last night.
This post has a two-part question although one of the parts could probably go into predators.
Put my flock to bed last night at 9. Everything was fine everyone was happy Coop looked good. Came out this morning to let them out to free range and there's only one chicken Left Alive. The first part of my question, which I can post and in predators is: something got in the coop and killed three of my chickens. It ate their heads and left the rest of them. I've had Fox take chickens before but they take the whole thing. I have never seen this before. I can't find any holes in the coop. I have no idea how it got in. Any thoughts about what it might be and how I can prevent it?

The more important question for me right now though is about my lone chicken. There's a farm down the street that is selling chickens. I know typically it's difficult to introduce new chickens together. I'm wondering if it would be easier because she's lost her whole flock. IIf I went and got some chickens from them, would they accept her because it's her residence? Would she accept them because she's lost her flock? I don't feel like I can leave her alone, but I'm really not sure what to do about this. Any and all thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[deepbluesea]

I'm so, so sorry for your loss! That's sad. There are many people on here that are more knowledgeable than I am, but I wouldn't get any more chickens until you figure out how the others got killed. I lost one of my girls like that--it turned out to be a juvenile raccoon that followed her up the pop door.

Once you predator-proof it, then yes, getting her some flock mates would be good. At least three, I'd say. You'll have to do the introduction thing--see but can't touch, etc. probably. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

My first thought is that you have a weasel. There are different members of the weasel family, some larger than others. Typically weasels go for the head, kill several chickens, and can squeeze through some pretty small holes. The smaller ones can be extremely hard to keep out of your coop. You need to seal all holes with small mesh wire, cracks around doors can often be big enough to let a weasel in. I don't know what area or even country you are in so I don't know what members of the weasel family may be native to your area.

You free range and I think you are talking about adult chickens, not immature ones. When you have a lot of room and you are dealing with adults it is typically not hard to integrate chickens. The problem typically come in when space is tight or you mix ages/maturity levels, which describes a majority of the integrations you read about on here.

I don't know what your coop looks like, size or anything else, or what you can do about the predator. Your integration issues may center around the coop, especially if it is small. Another possibility is that the new ones may go walkabout or roost in trees if you just turn them loose on your property instead of confining them for a few days so they see it as home. You can have issues but with adults and lots of room integration should not be that bad.

Good luck!

 

[feedman77]

Had the same thing before and once this year. Lost 6 in 1 night.

Usually it was a coon that did damage like that. Caught 2 sow coons the following night.

Not sure of your area? Or coop design? But if you predator proof it. I would get some other chickens for your lone chicken.

 

[feedman77]

. Back

Sorry about the losses you had.

 

[Birdsong 82]

I am really sorry to hear about your losses. It’s one of the most difficult things to wake up and see. Post some pictures of your cute maybe some awesome people on this site will be able to help you figure something out. What are the latches on your coop like? Some people don’t realize how easily a raccoon can open a door latch. But definitely posting some pictures Could help. I think getting her some other chickens to be with would be a great idea but first figure out the problem. It still might take some time to integrate the chickens but I’m sure she’ll be happier in the long run with some friends

 

[CBsFutureFarm]

Thank you all so much. I can't believe I didnt think to add details!
I am in the northern part of Virginia near the mountains. After researching the difference between coons and weasels I think it was a racoon, which is at least a little easier to protect against, but discouraging because they are plentiful here, and mean.

She had now been two days alone and although better is clearly stressed; she will not leave the run to free range. The nesting coop is raised and about 5×3. The run is the entire space under that plus about 16×16 . It seems big to me, and I am talking about adult chickens; I have just read so many horror stories of "introductions" going wrong and I have not done it before. It sounds like they may be okay put in all together, but I do have a cage I could put in the run for first introductions if that is a good choice. If so, does my resident hen go in there, or the new ones?

Thank you again everyone.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Maybe introduce them at first either in a cage or with a barrier in the run. And just see how that chicken acts about having the other ones there. When I do that all my chickens are going nuts making noise showing their disclosure for a while till they get bigger and you used to them. But my mother-in-law did the same thing and her a few chickens went up quietly to investigate. There is not much noise so my mother-in-law went ahead and open the cage . When they came out everybody was OK with each other off the bat.

 

[kwhites634]

I'm so, so sorry for your loss! That's sad. There are many people on here that are more knowledgeable than I am, but I wouldn't get any more chickens until you figure out how the others got killed. I lost one of my girls like that--it turned out to be a juvenile raccoon that followed her up the pop door.

Once you predator-proof it, then yes, getting her some flock mates would be good. At least three, I'd say. You'll have to do the introduction thing--see but can't touch, etc. probably. Good luck!

I'd say weasel, or part of the weasel family. All they need is an inch or two.

 

[Birdsong 82]

From what I found out raccoons only need a few inches also I had a raccoon stick his little arm into their run and rip one young chicken 3 inch hole and try to get another but only had success in ripping her leg off. Then we turned the coop and run into Fort Knox after that Send some pictures of your runand coop and maybe the great people at backyard chickens can give you some suggestions on how to predator proof things. I live in central Virginia and we have terrible predator problems