Watery Excrement Since Summer-Last Resort Before Culling

[ChickNanny13]

Predator concerns here are limited, I used to allow my girls to grub out in my back fenced yard. Learned we have a "resident" pair of hawks in the area & one swooped low into my backyard. My girls ran into the patio. Another time I heard a "cry" ... Saw a Jr Hawk in the neighbors yard, guess it was crying out & lost cause then I heard another "cry" saw a hawk circling & Jr flew up to meet the adult.

So then we built a Chicken House (8x12x7) & my girls remain confined ... I only have 4. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

As am I. My husband is not a cruel man and he loves animals, but in this instance his actions were unforgivable even if he didn't intend for her to meet her end. To add insult to injury, yesterday afternoon my favorite hen, Anna, a sweet BO, disappeared from the yard and didn't return to roost. She has not returned and I fear that she, too, has been taken by a predator. So in the span of 24 hours, I lost 2 hens. Needless to say, my remaining three girls will not be allowed out of their covered run today or for the foreseeable future. I'm heartbroken.

So sorry

https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/chicken-diseases-and-treatment-zmaz74zhol
Not the whole page I read yesterday, I cant find it again. But this one talks about the Epsom salt and the potassium per=whatever its called.

Thank You!

 

[Relleoms]

Checking in to see if either of your girls have come home? Praying for good news...

 

[micstrachan]

As am I. My husband is not a cruel man and he loves animals, but in this instance his actions were unforgivable even if he didn't intend for her to meet her end. To add insult to injury, yesterday afternoon my favorite hen, Anna, a sweet BO, disappeared from the yard and didn't return to roost. She has not returned and I fear that she, too, has been taken by a predator. So in the span of 24 hours, I lost 2 hens. Needless to say, my remaining three girls will not be allowed out of their covered run today or for the foreseeable future. I'm heartbroken.

I’m so sorry.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

So sorry


Thank You!

Thanks

 

[MrsAuberry00]

Checking in to see if either of your girls have come home? Praying for good news...

No, they haven't. We've seen hawks, a large owl and fox prints, so it could have been anything. I've had them a year and a half and allowed them to roam the yard almost daily and never lost one. I guess I was due.

 

[Relleoms]

No, they haven't. We've seen hawks, a large owl and fox prints, so it could have been anything. I've had them a year and a half and allowed them to roam the yard almost daily and never lost one. I guess I was due.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

This morning as I was cleaning the coop, I saw prints in the snow from a raccoon and something canine with a paw size of roughly 2 1/2 - 3" in circumference...I'm guessing coyote. Time to set traps.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A raccoon won't carry the bird far. You'll usually see the half eaten carcass somewhere nearby.
A fox will usually carry it off.
Depending on the size of both the hawk and the chicken, the hawk may carry it off or if it can't, it will eat it where it kills it.

 

[MrsAuberry00]

A raccoon won't carry the bird far. You'll usually see the half eaten carcass somewhere nearby.
A fox will usually carry it off.
Depending on the size of both the hawk and the chicken, the hawk may carry it off or if it can't, it will eat it where it kills it.

There's no sign of either hen in our three acre yard. Not even a place where an "abduction" could have occurred, that I could find anyway. We are surrounded by woods, but I've searched the perimeter of the property back into the woods a bit and again found nothing.

Yesterday morning, I heard a hawk at the corner of our property in the woods a bit. I'd wager that if I found the nest, I'd probably find remains nearby. Sybil was taken at night, so I doubt a hawk got her, or do they hunt at night? But Anna was taken in broad daylight so my money there is on the nasty hawk.