I'm completely devastated...
Something broke into the coop after dark last night by pushing on the pop door just enough to wedge it open on the top (3 to 4" opening) -
3 hens dead, 2 hens mortally wounded but still alive, struggling to breathe through the pain (DH had to give them the mercy ax while I wailed uncontrollably). One of the girls, Mina, had a hole on her back and didn't resist when he put her in the kill bag. The other girl, Antoinette, had a gaping hole under her left wing, there was no way to fix that - they were both in shock and trauma, saying goodbye was one of the most difficult things ever
It was a scene of utter massacre, feathers everywhere - the 3 other girls had been dead for a while, their bodies were stiff. Each had a gaping wound on their side. No broken necks, heads intact, no signs of having been eaten. The coop smells of blood, death and fear.
I found skunk footprints around the coop a few days ago but I doubt it's what killed them.
Every week I find holes in the run's chicken wire, making a circle about 5" in diameter - I'm the queen of patching, this is ridiculous.
I'm terrified it will happen again, even if I spent the better part of the day reinforcing the coop's security with hardware cloth on every opening, a new double-sided pop door with hard wedges, I rebuilt the main coop door... the girls are all locked in at night and this is the first time in 10 years that any predator got into that coop at night according to the previous owners.
What got my girls??? What kills but doesn't eat? What rips chunks of flesh from the side and back of a bird? What is strong enough to push through a door and small enough to fit through a 3-4" opening? What kills 5 birds in one night but not the rest of the flock? What rips out so many feathers?
I have been a giant mess since this morning, the devastation is crippling
Something broke into the coop after dark last night by pushing on the pop door just enough to wedge it open on the top (3 to 4" opening) -
3 hens dead, 2 hens mortally wounded but still alive, struggling to breathe through the pain (DH had to give them the mercy ax while I wailed uncontrollably). One of the girls, Mina, had a hole on her back and didn't resist when he put her in the kill bag. The other girl, Antoinette, had a gaping hole under her left wing, there was no way to fix that - they were both in shock and trauma, saying goodbye was one of the most difficult things ever
It was a scene of utter massacre, feathers everywhere - the 3 other girls had been dead for a while, their bodies were stiff. Each had a gaping wound on their side. No broken necks, heads intact, no signs of having been eaten. The coop smells of blood, death and fear.
I found skunk footprints around the coop a few days ago but I doubt it's what killed them.
Every week I find holes in the run's chicken wire, making a circle about 5" in diameter - I'm the queen of patching, this is ridiculous.
I'm terrified it will happen again, even if I spent the better part of the day reinforcing the coop's security with hardware cloth on every opening, a new double-sided pop door with hard wedges, I rebuilt the main coop door... the girls are all locked in at night and this is the first time in 10 years that any predator got into that coop at night according to the previous owners.
What got my girls??? What kills but doesn't eat? What rips chunks of flesh from the side and back of a bird? What is strong enough to push through a door and small enough to fit through a 3-4" opening? What kills 5 birds in one night but not the rest of the flock? What rips out so many feathers?
I have been a giant mess since this morning, the devastation is crippling
