Something killed three of my hens

Its inside the coop now,its leaned up against the nesting boxes and they get behind it and lay there eggs.Do they really attract porcupines?

Porcupines chew on them in the wild. I think it ups their calcium but I really don't think it would attract them. I think you are pretty safe from a porcupine infestation. LOL

Antlers are a calcium/mineral source for lots of critters. I keep looking for shed antlers for my dogs to chew, and never find them. I asked a hunter, and he told me they're pretty quickly consumed by squirrels, mice and chipmunks, so I'd guess that anything else could be chewing them, as well.
Hopefully, you won't be swarmed by small fuzzy things.

You can buy antlers for dog chews at pet supply places. A friend in France asked me to bring some to her when we went over this fall, and she had them shipped to me beforehand. They were bulky and a very odd shape, and I have no idea what Homeland Security made of them when they opened my luggage, which they did probably to check on the jar of pecan pie mix that she had me bring her, too. I'm sure that looked very suspicious in the x-ray!

Which is why I want to find them in the woods!! The piece I saw the other day was about 8" long including two branche about 1.5", and priced at $23.49. I love my dogs, but that's out of line *G*

They'll probably enjoy the walks hunting for the antlers, so we'll compromise.....

Oh, I don't think those were anywhere near that expensive! My friend wouldn't have gotten them if they were. This is where she bought them and the price seems reasonable:

http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-toys/antler-chews.html

Actually, turns out it's about the same, just my size estimate that's off. I called the store, and the antler was 10.5", not 8". So, equivalent to the XXL on the site, where it's $23.75.

Rats. Off to the woods.....

I've been lurking around reading but don't recall ever posting on this forum. My daughter raised chickens for 4H. She had a flock of 36 assorted specialty breeds and had pretty good luck with some of them. Somehow the coop door didn't get locked one night and the next day we woke up to a huge bloody massacre. Something or several somethings had killed 11 of our hens, one rooster and injured another rooster. To this day we never figured out what killed them, we're guessing a pack of coyotes. The sad part is that only a few were taken and/or eaten the rest were just mangled and left. It was a really awful sight for our daughter, especially since they were all being groomed for the fair a few weeks later. Our daughter is grown now and lives 1200 miles away but we still have 6 hens and 2 roosters left. The youngest one is 4 years old and the oldest is around 8 now. We still get a few eggs to enjoy. I'll miss those eggs but my husband doesn't want to continue raising chickens after these die and I'm somewhat physically disabled and can't do the heavy work.

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you still have chickens; I find them a joy to have around and the eggs are extra. My guess is that it was dogs that caused your massacre. Typically they kill without eating much.
We're always glad to hear from chicken heads here - whether you own any chickens or not. Post often.

Does sound like dogs. How neat you still have some of them.

AbbeysMom, I hope you'll find a way to keep a couple of hens for eggs. Three or four shouldn't really be much work, and the benefits are many.

I agree with the dog ID They are waht most commonly kills without consuming.. Raccoons or weasely things might also kill and leave, but usually coyotes take what they kill with them. Just my experience, so don't put much weight on that:)

Weasels and minks kill and leave. We had a mink in our henhouse a couple of winters ago; it was just horrible. So much carnage. You could understand and almost forgive if the animal was hungry and was killing to eat, but this was murder for the sake of murder - pure evil.

That's what I meant by "weasely things" *G*

Sometimes they only take certain parts. Shudder.

Gourmet weasely things? Worse and worse!

Mink and weasel family members are blood thirsty devils to put it lightly.

Yes, for sure! But just think of how many chickens a critter would have to kill if it had a taste for only, for example, gizzards.

When my dog killed and ate my hens she ate the entire bird. Only a few feathers remained. She lives here though so guess she took her time.

What is so strange about her is as long as she's on the chain she never hurts the hens. They walk right up to her.

We do have bobcat and even a couple cougar that have been spotted around here and I think that keeps a lot of our nuisance animals in check but I hadn't thought about it being weasel or mink. Do they live near streams and rivers? There's a very large creek about 150 yards west of the hen house and the Kansas River is only about 400 yards behind our property. All of that area is pretty wooded too so I imagine there's all kinds of wild beasties around that we don't see. We've had trouble with oppossum a few time but they only stole eggs, they didn't hurt the chickens. The coop is pretty secure so it's been awhile since we had any trouble and I hope it stays that way.

Mink and weasels are aquatic; if you live near a river that's good habitat for them. We live along a small navigable river and there are lots of critters around, including muskrats, although they just eat my pond plants when we are temporarily without a cat.

Apparently I'm now dealing with coyotes. We thought it was foxes (and it still may be) so did some new fencing, but fences won't stop coyotes. So, my poor birds now stay cooped up (I now understand the expression) until I can be down there to see that all is well. They used to be allowed out at sun-up, but no more.
Last night my SO went after what he thought were dogs, just about dusk. His description was wolves, but I have to go with coyotes. Shepherdy looking, light sides, dark backs. Ran them off, seemingly without injury, but they were back quickly, or there were more skulking about. The second time they didn't seem to return, but I waited (armed) until all the straggler-chickens came home to roost (another expression*G*). I did get tired of waiting, and managed to capture the little Silkie roo who is the last one in, and install him. He has to wait until "his" hen goes to bed, and she has chosen the front porch as home.
Now to get thru today...

p.s. The porch hen is carried into a cage in the bathroom to spend the nights. No wonder no-one wants to visit me *G*

catmad

I love your ps.

Jan

I just didn't want anyone to think she was left there unprotected. It's a good thing I do. Last night something ripped up her nest (also on the front porch) and ate her eggs! I had to use eggs gathered yesterday :(
I'll take them in the evening, now....