So sad.

[gailbelanger]

So I have some chicks that were too big for the booder but too small to enter the flock. So we put them in a large dog crate in the chicken coop with a shield of about 4-5" on the bottom sides so that they were protected but could be seen by the older birds hoping that it would help them to enter the flock.
So my husband had to go out today, take 2 of the pups for shots and then we went and bought some new rabbits. I also got 6 more chicks on the sly .
So when we got home we made the rounds and when I went into the coop one of my Leghorn chicks was gone. It appeared that they tried to pulled her through the bars underneath the shied we put up.
Sometimes I don't like chickens. They can be very violent it seems.
We now have 8" of shield up and tomorrow I am going to get some very small holed metal fabric to cover the whole dog crate and we're putting another on top of that for more chicks and we'll do the same.
But losing a bird like that is so sad for me.

 

[pekin queen]

sorry for your loss

 

[gailbelanger]

So I have some chicks that were too big for the booder but too small to enter the flock. So we put them in a large dog crate in the chicken coop with a shield of about 4-5" on the bottom sides so that they were protected but could be seen by the older birds hoping that it would help them to enter the flock.
So my husband had to go out today, take 2 of the pups for shots and then we went and bought some new rabbits. I also got 6 more chicks on the sly .
So when we got home we made the rounds and when I went into the coop one of my Leghorn chicks was gone. It appeared that they tried to pulled her through the bars underneath the shied we put up.
Sometimes I don't like chickens. They can be very violent it seems.
We now have 8" of shield up and tomorrow I am going to get some very small holed metal fabric to cover the whole dog crate and we're putting another on top of that for more chicks and we'll do the same.
But losing a bird like that is so sad for me.

I had another one gone this morning. She was inside the crate. Some feathers missing on the side if her neck but no apparent wounds.
It appears she might have broken her neck.

I found her about 3-4" away from the side of the crate. I have a branch going through so they can perch, a hanging food feeder and a waterer on the ground.

Maybe they don't have enough room? They don't appear to me to be that crowded.

 

[nuthatched]

Pictures of your set up will be nice do we can help you. 4-8 inches is nothing.it could be rats or weasel type predators.

 

[GermanKennhuhn]

I’m so sorry for your losses! pictures would help.

 

[gailbelanger]

Pictures of your set up will be nice do we can help you. 4-8 inches is nothing.it could be rats or weasel type predators.

They are inside the coop in a large dog crate surround by hens and roosters. This last one had no sign of damage. The last one happened in the middle of the day and looked like a hen had gotten her and tried to pull her through the cage.
I think I'm doing something wrong.

Pictures of your set up will be nice do we can help you. 4-8 inches is nothing.it could be rats or weasel type predators.

 

[gailbelanger]

Pictures of your set up will be nice do we can help you. 4-8 inches is nothing.it could be rats or weasel type predators.

I would think that if it was a rat or weasel they would have gone for the loose big chi Ken's, not the ones in a cage that were harder to get to.
Also weasels would have killed a lot of birds just for the fun of it.

 

[KRack]

Can you move their set up away from the other chickens until they're bigger?

For example I have my coop and run inside a larger fenced in area. I'd put these littler chickens outside of the larger fenced in area for an extra layer of security, so the bigger birds couldn't actually touch them, just see them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Don't know if the adults are responsible but because the crate is small for the number of chicks, the chicks cannot move away from the walls for safety. Replacing the "shield" and covering the entire crate with hardware cloth will provide a lot more safety against anything that might reach in and also allow the older birds to clearly see the little ones, so they can get used to them and eventually be able to integrate.

 

[gailbelanger]

Can you move their set up away from the other chickens until they're bigger?

For example I have my coop and run inside a larger fenced in area. I'd put these littler chickens outside of the larger fenced in area for an extra layer of security, so the bigger birds couldn't actually touch them, just see them.

They are now in rabbit cages the wire is closer together and that stack so they have more room. They aren't really at the age to be outside in any kind of enclosure.