All chickens killed but one escaped. Heartbroken.

[dusta]

If you have a power source at you chicken run.... I suggest an electric wire to keep predators away.
I have just bought a new place. The chicken pen is in shambles. I am guessing a bear tore the fence down. What ever it had to be big because the posts are down and broken.

 

[lafinestra66]

Coons here in Ohio only attack during the night hours. I lost two of my prize ducks to one recently. I since then went to Tractor Supply and bought their welded wire Chicken pens, 5 of them and hooked them altogether to keep them safe. I put no dig barriers around the pen and hopefully they will all be safe now. Dogs will do just exactly what happened to these chickens. They will kill for fun. Also a Coon usually eats the entrails of the attacked animal as there was nothing left of my Wood Duck hardly and my Khaki Campbell had all of its insides eaten out. I am so sorry this happened to you and we do learn from our mistakes. I had mine for 4 years before this happened and trusted my Nite Guard lights on all sides of the pen but this Coon wasn't scared off by them. I hope your one survives.

Thank you for your kind words. I will look into a better, stronger enclosure. I'm afraid to even put any chicken back outside knowing there is a large predator around. I had a false sense of security from living in a neighborhood.

 

[lafinestra66]

Does anyone think this could be a fox? I was talking to a feed store owner around here and she said a fox killed all her chickens in the afternoon and left them and came back later to get the bodies. I guess I'll never know what happened but I'm trying to see what other people have dealt with.

 

[RoyalChick]

So sorry. It is devastating to lose them.
Hope the survivor pulls through - as others have said, keep her warm and give her water with sugar to help with shock.

 

[lafinestra66]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice. I was able to get into a vet finally this afternoon. After my regular vet, I called 8 other local vets. This vet felt bad for me and just let me come in and wait even though they had no appointments. I had to wait a long time but wanted to know if Duchess could make it or if I needed to let her go. They said Duchess should be able to survive. They said her back puncture wound wasn't extremely severe. They gave me antibiotics and pain meds and told me to try to syringe feed her every hour until she's eating on her own. They said she does not have any broken bones and that she doesn't appear to have any internal injuries. I don't know how she managed to get away from the predator. I am shocked and amazed. I will help her heal but it's hard to look at her or be around her right now because she reminds me of her sisters. I feel terrible about this but I also feel numb and like I'm in a waking nightmare. I can't even look out the window into my backyard because I expect to see them scratching around in their run but it's empty.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

 

[McChooky]

I joined to learn about building a secure chicken coop and run then made one out of pallets(covered it with hardware cloth and a tarp) Its not very pretty but its prevented any losses(I did lose 2 while free ranging once)Sorry for your loss!

 

[McChooky]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice. I was able to get into a vet finally this afternoon. After my regular vet, I called 8 other local vets. This vet felt bad for me and just let me come in and wait even though they had no appointments. I had to wait a long time but wanted to know if Duchess could make it or if I needed to let her go. They said Duchess should be able to survive. They said her back puncture wound wasn't extremely severe. They gave me antibiotics and pain meds and told me to try to syringe feed her every hour until she's eating on her own. They said she does not have any broken bones and that she doesn't appear to have any internal injuries. I don't know how she managed to get away from the predator. I am shocked and amazed. I will help her heal but it's hard to look at her or be around her right now because she reminds me of her sisters. I feel terrible about this but I also feel numb and like I'm in a waking nightmare. I can't even look out the window into my backyard because I expect to see them scratching around in their run but it's empty.

I came home and let my chickens out one day without letting my dogs out to sound alerts. That mistake cost me 2 young hens so I haven't done it since. I'm sorry what happened to your flock and hope you can make a few changes so your run is secure. I do hope your hen makes a full recovery soon and you can get her a friend. They need friends.

 

[WaterfowlsPoultry]

Yep, Its a stray dog..
Coyotes kill for food
Foxes kill for food
Dogs kill for fun.

 

[McChooky]

Yep, Its a stray dog..
Coyotes kill for food
Foxes kill for food
Dogs kill for fun.

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