What could have killed my Brown Leg Horn Hen?

[eggchel]

Yep, we've had raccoons reach through the fence and pull a chicken back out... one piece at a time. My guess is that your predator left because it couldnt reach the rest of the body. We've even had possums reach through a cage with 1/2" x 1" welded wire and pull the feathers and skin off a hapless chicken. Sometimes the silly birds sleep next to the fence instead of up on their roost so we added smaller wire around the pens on the bottom 2 or 3 feet. Hardware cloth is too expensive to do the number of pens that we have so we used chicken wire temporarily. I know that a raccoon could rip it but they havent, so far. Gradually we are rebuilding pens and we put corrugated metal roofing panels lengthwise along the bottom of the fencing to make the lower 2 feet solid.


Im sorry about your hen.


Chel

 

[weloveourchicks]

Thanks everyone; my hubby is still hunting but when he gets home we'll have to do something as I can't be losing all my chicks!!

They didn't lay much today; I think they must be sad.

 

[imfowl]

Are you near water? I watched a small alligator pull one of my RIR's head through a fence & eat only the head.

 

[coffeelady3]

Quote:
Raccoons often work together. One will be on one side and scare the chicken over to the other side, where it's buddy is waiting. They're smart little buggers.