This Is Horrific....

[sarahclrksn]

they were in a small chicken coop i have heat lamp still on at night, door was closed windows with screens for ventilation... food water in waterers with ice cubes to keep cool...small logs for there roosts they were doing amazing...believe me i am beating myself up over this...just sick to my stomach....

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Don't beat yourself up, it sounds like a good set-up. It's so hot here I often keep my young chicks in tractors/arks in the grass during the daytimes. Is there evidence of how the predator got into the pen? Bent screen, hole under wall, crawl space under roof? And this happened during daylight hours?

still wondering...

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

I don't know what to say except that you and your little boy are in my thoughts, I am so very , very, sorry!

 

[Peeper7]

Stuff Happens!
Blaming yourself is a waste of your energy to move on and fix the problem. Don't give up! Build your Ark and enjoy your birds! New chicks will warm your heart all over again.

P.S. I'm not minimizing your pain! just hate for you to feel so bad.

 

[PeepsInc]

Coon hounds will suck down baby chicks hole. I seen one eat a cat hole 1 time. It was grusome. Lost my 3 month old blue call duck yesturday to a beagle.

 

[Mrs MIA]

The best healing balm for lost chickies is to get some more. You can never replace the first ones, but the new ones do a good job of dulling the pain...

People here ask me why my runs are completely enclosed... animals can climb, and birds can swoop. Now, if a bear wants in, he's probably going to do it regardless, but I can at least try to discourage. That's what the hot-wire is for.

 

[lovelychicken]

Yes it is very possible on the dogs...my border collie mix, before i took him from my grandpa, would wait for them to get within distance of his chain and get full grown chickens. He'd eat them all except a couple feathers. I got to him before grandpa and tossed the few feathers plus sometimes a organ piece over the fence before grandpa saw, he'd have shot or beat him if he had knew. My dog knew how far his chain went and once that chicken entered that zone, it was over. A couple times I watched him and saw how he waited but intervened before the pounce. So you can't always denounce the dog.

 

[lovelychicken]

plus I am so so so sorry!!!!!!!

 

[silkieluver_07]

Im so sorry for your loss.

We just lost a great mother hen to a coon. We have two of her chicks that escaped left.

 

[cmom]

I'm so sorry about you losses.

It's hard to loose even one. I had a neighborhood mutt killed one of my hens several months ago, daytime sometime betweern 11 am and 2pm. My husband was in the hospital and I went to pick him up. Everyone was fine before I left and I had even gave the birds some treats. When I got back one was dead next to the fence and there were dog tracks around the body. I had seen a dog in my yard several times and into my trash on trash days. I have ran him off many times so I think he is the one, a Pitbull mix. I have let my neighbors know that if I see that dog around my chickens he won't be going home.

I haven't see him in about 3/4 weeks. Maybe the owner got the message.