We lost a hen in a strange way

[CESOrtega]

In early July a coon got in our coop and took a chunk out of one of our hens. We didn't know this happened, just that she was acting a little odd the next day and didn't come to the coop when it started getting dark like she normally did. The next morning, I found our other hen in the coop with a pile of her feathers with a chunk of skin attached to them. I searched her over and found her wound. In the meantime, we found the other hen and I found her wound, too. We treated the wounds and kept them in the garage until we could reinforce the coop and catch the coon that had gotten in there.

Last week my daughter brought the hen who was wounded first in the house and showed me that all her long tail feathers were gone. So I checked her over again and found a very strange place on her rump. It smelled just awful. It was very much like coon or possum poop...we've trapped them in our garage before and they always leave us a token of their appreciation so I know what it smells like. Anyway, the place on Shelly's tail was a huge reddish brown clump of foul smelling ick. It was hard and crusty. I filled a bucket with water and we sat on the porch trying to rinse the stuff off and find out more of what it was. As I was able to get a little closer to her skin, it seemed that underneath her skin was a more of whatever this was...it looked kind of green. But, it was causing her lots of discomfort so I did the best I could, intending to work on it more the next day.

Well, the next day came and we found her dead in the coop. The only part of her that had been touched was her back end and she was pretty much gutted. All her entrails were pulled out.

Any clues what might have happened? We put the humane trap in the coop for the next five nights and didn't catch anything. I've had several theories about what happened but we are not experienced chicken people so I don't have much experience to draw on. Right now I am concerned about our remaining hen and her safety. My husband went and really shored up the coop...put wire mesh across any gaps, re-wrapped the entire coop in netting but I know if something wants in it will get in.

Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Sounds like a RACOON! So sorry.

>>Well, the next day came and we found her dead in the coop. <<

Why would you put her back in the coop or garage where she, as well as another hen, were being attacked in the first place?? Being already injured she was a "sitting duck" for another predator attack.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Doesn't sound like coons or possum to me. If it were, they would have killed them the first time, not take chunks and feathers.

Could it have been rats chewing on them during the night?

And then something else finished off the one? Do rats pull the insides out?

Are you using hardware cloth on all openings in the coop and are the chickens getting locked up in the coop at night?

Good luck with the rest of your chickens - poor things.

 

[CESOrtega]

I didn't say she had been attacked...I said she had a place on her tail. The attack had been two months previous and we had taken precautions to reinforce the coop.

I would have never put her in harms way deliberately and I found it rather insensitive of you to imply that I would.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Well shoot - I reread your post and understand better now.

When the are on the roost at night, is there wire that something is able to reach through and grab the chickens?

Where in the coop did you find the latest killed chicken?

Does mink or weasel poo look the same as the coon poo you witnessed in the traps and it's a weasel or mink getting in and pooing on the roost where the chickens are getting their back sides into it?

 

[CESOrtega]

We have a coop that they go in at night but it doesn't have a locking door, just a flap to let them in and out. They have a roost inside there that they huddle on. Their pen is closed, though. Do most people lock the coop door even if it is in a pen? We might need to make that adjustment. A lot of times in the summer we open the entire front of the coop so they can get air circulated better. Might need to re-think that, too.

We know the first attack was a coon. We caught it inside the pen with the doors all closed up. Normally we take coons we catch in the garage and release them far from the house but this one we killed since it was obviously trouble.

Rats sound like a possibility, even though it is a nasty thought. Wonder what I could do about them.

Our neighbors have had several dogs in a pen not far from our coop but I believe they have gotten rid of them. I think the dogs not barking may be what is causing the coon activity.

We let the girls roam free during the day when we are home and they always coop up at night. We just go out and lock their pen door.

 

[CESOrtega]

We live in Tennessee and I don't think we have minks or weasels around here.

I really am stymied about the brown stuff and the odor. It smelled like poop but it was deep in her feathers, not on the edges.

If I had it to do all over again, of course I would have brought her in the garage for the night. But I didn't think it was an immediate threat. I thought it was an old wound that had festered or maybe a parasite under her skin. Hindsight is 20/20, though.

I think our netting and wire around the coop is still too large based on some of the experiences I have seen here. We have a very fine mesh around the corners where there might be gaps and chicken wire around the rest. I think we need to get something smaller.

 

[hen-thusiast]

Quote:
We close and lock all the doors at night. Both the one from their fully enclosed outdoor run and the one into their henhouse. Theoretically, we wouldn't have to close/lock either of the doors, but we figure they are second and third lines of defense for hungry critters to get the chickens.

 

[rhodiegal]

We have had raccoons get at our chickens and begin to eat them and leave them wounded like you said (something scared them off maybe??). We know that is what they were because we caught them on a wildlife camera. This happened when our last dog died and we had a puppy Great Pyr that was too young to take over his guardian role. It is amazing how it only took a small amount of time before they figured out there was no dog there! They found a itty bitty area where they could get into the coop.

It also sounds like your hen had gangrene. I found a Tyson chicken on the side of the road with a severely bruised wing. I treated her with antibiotics, but a week later the smell got horrible and I noticed her bruise was greenish. Took to vet - most definately gangrene, so she was put down.

 

[CESOrtega]

Nothing can reach into the coop except to go through the flap door. The sides are wooden and it has a vinyl roof. The girls are always good about going inside when it gets dark.

Back in July I believe the coon got in there to get an egg we hadn't collected. The one we found dead last week was outside the coop, but inside the pen. We didn't get anything from the humane trap we put in there several nights afterwards, either. Our one remaining hen stayed locked in the garage while we tried to catch the predator and we just put her back in there after my husband wired the coop again.

I've never seen the apron design before. I am going to get my husband to do that to the pen to keep them from coming in under it.