I transferred my 25 chicks to their hen house this past weekend. They're 5 weeks and have most of their feathers. Everything was great, they were running around loving their new home, roosting on the roosting bars and having no problem running up and down the ramp from the enclosed run to the coop. Then this morning I go out and tradgedy. Two were outside the run, free, but unhurt, one has a cut across the side of its head but seems okay, another is cut acrosss one eye and seems to be dying, one is missing and two were in the run dead. I feel so bad, I thought we had seal up any cracks where anything could get in, but something obviously got to them. The people who lived in our house before had chickens and told us a racoon was stealing the eggs. We thought we figure out that he slipping under the hen house into the run and then going up the ramp into the hen house. We blocked under the coop with chicken wire filled it in with dirt and then blocked it with heavy rocks. Now we see a small space around a pole beam in the ceiling of the coop and we are thinking maybe a racoon got in through there. The space is kind of shaped like this: OI with the O being the beam and the I the board next to it. The space between the board and the beam where they are closest is about two inches but the beam is round so the edges have more space maybe 4 inches. Could a racoon sqeeze between a small space like that? My dh is going to block it off just in case.
The other mystery is how the two chicks got out. The small hole is in the ceiling 8 ft up with nothing for them to hop from so I really don't see how they could have gotten out of there. The run is completely enclosed in chicken wire.
Did I move them too soon? Should I have left them in the brooder box longer? Also, what should I do for the injured ones. The one that had it's eye cut we have in a box in our house because she isn't moving and we don't want the others to hurt her. She's just laying down breathing heavy. We put water in a small dish for her but she hasn't drank anything. I'm afraid to put anything on her cuts because I don't want to hurt her more. The other one is still walking around but has that gash on her head. Should I put peroxide or antibiotic oinment on her head? I'm afraid the pain of disinfecting it will make her worse.
Any advice or commiseration will be welcome.
Jenica
I'm so upset! 3 babies dead and two more injured.
Jenica, I'm afraid all I can give you is commiseration. I'm SO sorry about your chicks! That is truly heartbreaking. The scary thing is the one with the eye wound could also have some internal injury. I hope someone comes along with some advice soon. Do you have a vet that treats poultry?
If you have antibiotic ointment, you can treat the cuts. If it is a gaping wound, clean it out with saline solution (Contact lense saline is fine), treat with antibiotic and put a small piece of tape closing it. Even without antibiotics, wounds on birds heal well. They often look worse than they are as their skin is so thin and tears easily.
I really don't know what could have gotten into the coop, a coon is possible, but so is a weasel. The slash marks though, sound more like a cat and a cat could certainly get in that opening.
For the severely wounded chick, just keep it quiet and warm (Or cool if it is very hot there), offer water and food near by. You'll just have to wait and see. There probably isn't much a vet could do either.
I'm so sorry this happened to you. There isn't much fairness in raising chickens. When you are at the lower end of the food chain, life is rough.
Thanks for your help. I took the less wounded one from the coop also because the others were pecking at her wound. I have both of them in a cardboard box on my kitchen table (I keep the ac at 82 and use ceiling fans to cool off so I think the chicks won't be too cold in here). The less wounded one was upset to be taken from the coop and chirped for a while but she helped perk up the other a little. I made them some oatmeal and the less wounded one ate some but the bad one is just sitting there. I did get her to drink a little water by bringing the dish of water to her beak and wetting it. I'm encouraged that she's still alive, I thought she only had a couple hours left to live.
I'm going to do the saline and antibiotic ointment thing now and hopefully they won't get infections. The vet's around here barely treat dogs never mind chickens. Being a rural area most people here see farm animals a lot less emotionally than I do.
I never thought about a cat but that makes a lot of sense, they can squeeze through the tinest holes. There is a cat that we've seen in our lower field so maybe that's it. Well, my husband blocked the gap better so hopefully we won't have a problem.
Wish me luck I'm off to play chicken doctor.
If you want to watch something to cheer you up, enter "Terry Bradshaw Chicken" in your search engine. (I'd have sent it to you in a link, but never have figured out how. It's well worth it.
That did the trick for sure. Hilarious. My husband and I were both cracking up. Thanks, we needed that.
Here's a link if anyone else wants to see it http://www.jibjab.com/view/24177
I'm so sorry for your loss Town2Country. I had a similiar tragedy this summer but lost all but one of my twenty five chicks. We strongly suspected cats. Hopefuly the DH fixed the problem.
I think my favorite part is the Arkansas ICU. I have watched that clip at least a dozen times and still love it.
Well the two injured chicks made it through the night. It's amazing, the one I thought was going to die yesterday morning is now on her feet and walking around with one eye open. The only thing that's still making me wonder if she is going to make is she is acting slightly brain damaged. I held a shot glass with water up to her beak and she drank some water but she can't seem to figure out where it's coming from. She swallows what she gets when I put her beak in it but then she bobs her head up and down trying to find it. I thought maybe she wasn't seeing out of the one open eye but she looks up at me when I stand over the box. She also goes over to the waterer (the same kind I've been using since I first got the chicks) and tries to get at the water by pecking at the top of it. It's like she's completely forgotten how to eat and drink.
Is this just chick amensia or is she so brain damaged that she's can't even eat or drink by herself. The funny thing is it's her throat that the injury is on, not her head. I'm hoping that by tomorrow she'll recover enough that she'll figure it out. I really hope she makes it but I can't see myself force feeding a chicken for the rest of her life.
The chicks in the coop made it through the night with only one scrape on the butt of one of them. After thinking about it and reading up on predators I think it was a racoon swiped at them from outside the run yesterday. All of their injuries were right at the head or neck and going for the head seems to be the MO of raccons. I think he was outside the run because otherwise I should have had more fatalities and injuries (although 3 dead and 2 injured is enough for me). The chicken wire of the run was stapled at ground level to a 1x6 board that was half buried into the ground. This meant that the chicken wire was pretty much at ground level so a racoon didn't need a long arm to get to chicks sleeping near the edge of the run. My husband put more boards around the sides of the run so now the racoon would have to strech his arm about eight inches down to touch the ground inside the run. I think that's why only one got it's butt swiped. Hubby is going to put one more layer of boards around the run so our little coon friend can't reach my babies with his grubby little hands.
Patch, that is horrible!! I was ready to cry with only three gone. You must have been devastated.
Give the chick a little more time, she will probably recover her "memory".
I can just picture that coon last night, up to his armpit in chicken wire and trying to reach the chicks. You are right though, coons will pull a bird through the wire piece by piece if they can.
Town, Where are you feeding them? Is there feed in the pen where they sleep? We lost 350 chicks one night. Could find no trace of them for a long time. Then cleaning out the straw, we found a "hole". It appeared that rats were taking the chicks right into the hole. Killed everyone of them. That one hurt. At almost a dollar a piece and you can only write off the cost of the chicks.
Kathy
It was terrible. You are probably right about it being a coon in your situation, but don't forget that cats do the same thing. They will eat heads and necks, and just kill for sport.
This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 9:44 AM
Well, looks like the hurt chicks are going to be able to leave the ICU soon. They are both eating, drinking and very active this morning and from the speed in which they dirty the paper liner, their digestive systems seem to be working fine. I'm just waiting till their scabs heal up better because the other chicks like to rip off any scabs they see, as both me and my husband can both painfully attest.
The last two morning there were no more injuries in the coop. Hopefully whatever was after them has given up. So it looks like my total loss was only three chicks, which after hearing some of ya'lls stories, I'm realizing isn't that bad.
Thanks so much for all your advice and support.
In 2000, I ordered from McMurray and began my fascination with these beautiful birds. In 2004, I came to work in Saudi Arabia and had to give my chickies to my Master Gardener buddies. I sure miss them, but can really sympathize with your loss. Opposums were my biggest headache. It is really important to make sure there is no opening for anything to get in. And although our town had a leash law, some irresponsible dog owners let their animals out early each morning, and they killed several of my most beautiful roosters. Take heart....keeping chilckens is worth it, but just as caring for any pet there is sometimes loss involved.....but it really is worth it and I plan to have them again when I return to NC in three years!
I stumbled onto this web site today - and laughed out loud at the chicken lady from Arkadelphia! So I had to subscribe . . .
We learned the hard way about skunks. They are in the feline family, and will return until they wipe out every chicken and duck. They are pretty sneaky as well - not showing themselves sometimes like a racoon might do.
We were successful in letting them( we've had 2) stay there a day or so, until it sort of gave up and quit pacing back and forth - it just tucked its head under its tail. Then we had a tarp ready, snuck in quietly, and shot it. They always spray, so we threw the tarp to avoid getting spray in the wood of the chicken house walls. Later, we just threw the tarp away, and the smell was gone in about a day. But we've lot huge Buffs, Pekins, australops, hamburgs - you name it. Good luck to you and your babies!
Sorry to hear about your loss, but glad the two are better .
My goodnes, I didn't know so many things went after yard birds . Guess i will have to chain my dog beside them for a few nights . But already she is checking them out .Walking around cage . She even pointed at them a couple times [bird dog].Sheknows not to touch our things though . I told her they were hers and mine .
Rats, who would have known !
We have plenty coons,rats, bears,panthers,owl,hawks and other predetors around here . Another reason I gave away my equine because I couldn't afford or take care of another donkey . Nothing came into yard when donk was here, not even our dog and cats after first couple of stomping fits .My genny guarded the outside perimeter.
I will really check out the pen tomorrow ,the chicks are inside ,but the ducklings are in the pen .
I had a snake try for my chicks yesterday and today I spotted a Kestral Hawk eyeing them . It's going to be tough keeping them safe.
MollyD
Molly we have to be much more careful this go round with them.
I just went outside to check on ducks. Do you think maybe I should bring them in with the chics?
They don't like closed places at all, but it may be better than other possibility .
This message was edited May 15, 2008 9:30 PM
Sorry to hear about your experience, but in ways we learn from them. My first experience with chicks was 3 years ago. Had a dog pen with an undercover shelter underneath. Kept my 6 babies in the house until about 5 weeks as well, and then put them out in this area but inside a dog crate with a heating lamp. Went out the next morning, a chicken was gone. I looked all over for it, no signs. So being naieve I thought maybe it slipped out and we will find it. Next morning 2 decapitated chickens in the kennel. At this time I am panicked. I raced up to get my husband who brushing if off as i no way anthing can get in there. That night we put chicken wire in on the enclosed part all the way around. Had everything tight as a drum! Checked on the birds next morning, 2 more decapitated, feathers everywhere. One poor traumatized bird quivering in the corners. She was dropped off at a friends house who had similar age chickens and where she is still residing happily. We poured over nook and crevice of that building and sealed it off, and knock on wood, no problems since! Heart wrenching first time experience. Thankly it was the only one or I would not own chickens now! Sorry for your losses and hope all is better now. -Jaime
whatsupdoc I think it depends on how secure you feel the ducks are. There comes a point when we have to leave them out in their shelters and hope we've got everything covered.
Jaime something must have been able to reach inside their cage. Racoon maybe? I hear they're very nimble.
MollyD
Sorry to hear of your lose. My daughter had a dove in a birdcage in the barn and some thing got in and ate her head off. Maybe you can get a haveaheart trap and set it up outside of the chicken yard with tuna in it. If you get anything you will have to check with your village on the procurers. Maybe check with village first they may have a safe trap. Have fun!!
hello Ruth, what in the world is that beuatiful blossom?
we have it narrowed down to a fast snake or a large rat taking our chicks. hunting some more tomorrow...
tf
TF, that looks an awful lot like a passion flower, although in a different color.
GG
That looks like a flower of a tulip tree.
I don't have ducks or chickens, live in city but like to read about every thing. So you may see me around
cool! we love to entertain the chicken-less ^_^
I may not have chickens or ducks but I like birds. Read my threat on bird watching "slave!" and "potted up"
i don't have that forum on my favs, can you post a link?
I am new at this computer stuff but one is www.davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/854614/
and the other is www.davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/855319/
if this does not work just go to the community screen and then to forums screen and the click on bird watching in the leisurely pursuits.
hopes that works
that was too funny! you are slaves to wild birds like we are to poultry!
tf
If you have roosters with your chicks. Roosters kill baby chicks. So if you want to keep the hens with them though, just let a few go. And they'll get the other chickens to let them in when they're adults.
Chickens coccidiosis- We had a terribly wet spring and two of our older hens were sick, we lost one before we figured out what it was. The flies got at them and yuck. I found a site that had old time farm wisdom, always put a tsp of vinegar in their water and if they get 'runny butt' sprinkle Epsom salts on their food. Not a lot, just like if you were salting your food. It worked. I had to clean up the maggots too, gross. Iodine cleared up the wound.
town2country,
The chickens should be roosting on wooden bars that are NOT within reach of a raccoon ... in other words ... 24 inches from any fence or wall with holes adjacent where the raccoon might reach from. Solving that situation ought to remedy deaths from the reaching raccoon. Just because the raccoon can no longer reach them from the outside ... does not mean it will not succeed in another method of killing. Burglars and raccoons usually have a backup plan. If it were me ... I'd look at the 2nd most vulnerable spot to see if I couldn't remedy that as another way for the raccoon to kill. If you can get the raccoon out of your community ... you'll be a lot less worried about it killing any more of your precious chickens. I too have had chicken and duck calamity this spring/summer. You have my total empathy. Best wishes
Kelly in Moxee
Hi to all, I am so glad to find this site. We have backyard chickens and a rooster. Three of the chickens are about 10 weeks old. Late this afternoon I noticed one of the chicks was dragging a wing as if it is broken. I have isolated the chick in a pet crate, but I am not sure if I should wrap the injured wing. I am afraid if I wait until I can get to the vet the wing won't mend correctly.
We do have cats (good mousers), old kittens and dogs, but our dogs aren't allowed to roam loose with the chickens. I suspect it was attacked by one of the old kittens.
Does anybody have suggestions?
That is a good question, chiwee. Should one try to tie (wrap) a bird's wing to its body to stabilize it before seeking treatment?
Wouldn't it depend on how fast you can get it to medical attention ?
MollyD
The injury was discovered too late to get to the vet. I checked on the chick, Rusty Patches, a bit ago and Rusty seems to be okay other than the wing.
if youare still up, i would wrap it for the night to prevent further injury. but do it snugly where Rusty won't hurt himself. Ace bandage or vetwrap.
glad he had no other injuries. something for muscle pain would help, any kind of rub, like blue stuff or something, as long as there is no cut that it would burn...
Here's my experience with cats. Slight injuries to chickens and guineas seem to have a way of disappearing. Time heals all (or most) wounds.
Cats / kittens and chicks / chickens do NOT mix. Cats will end up eating your chickens instead of the mice since chickens are much easier to catch than mice. Long term ..... keeping them quite separate is best because grown-up cats feast on grown-up chickens. I've had cats here eating the chickens for 6 years. I'd estimate 6-10 chickens eaten by cats every year. The cats are the neighbors ... but they find my live box traps with cat food and tuna bait to be terribly inviting. So do the skunks. Both end up in the same place once they find my live trap box. It costs $10 + $6 gas to drop a cat at the Humane Shelter ... and 2 cents to shoot a skunk. The Humane Shelter kills the cats "humanely". We do the best we can for the animals on the land.
Kelly in Moxee
This message was edited Aug 27, 2008 1:10 PM
I have a yard full of cats and chickens. My own cat who was feral when I moved into this house is terrified of the chickens--although I imagine she would take a young chick if given the opportunity. The feral cats here are also afraid of the chickens--in fact having chickens is the only way I have been able to rid my yard of the neighborhood cats. But the cats move in as kittens and are immediately set upon by full grown and very brazen pullets.
If you have young chicks--they probably are very vulnerable to predation by any cat--nice flufffy toys. I also worry about my little nankin bantams and keep them in a covered pen--although they are excellent flyers. Larger birds and cats may be a matter of individual discretion. Barn cats and chickens have been together for eons.
My experience has been very similar to Cats' Our kittens tried to play with full grown hens and got pecked on the nose. Now they play more respectfully, occasionally rubbing up against the puzzled chickens. I do introduce them to the chicks at a very young age and keep the motherless ones separate, as they have no hen to protect them, but I try to make sure to be there when they first meet so that the cats KNOW how bad it gets if they even look at my babies the wrong way. My BC's are also always on patrol and keep things from getting out of hand. For me just making them know that I expect them to get along and making sure all creatures see me handling each of the rest has kept the peace. The other Kelly (in Moxee -tease!) has had a really rough time with all sorts of predation though and experience dealing with the rough stuff if that's what you find yourself confronted with.