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Help!
Mar 21, 2017 18:29:12 GMT
Post by countrymom22 on Mar 21, 2017 18:29:12 GMT
Okay, last night sometime between 5:30 pm when I collected eggs and 7:30 pm (yes, only a 2 hour span during daylight!) when my son went to lock the chickens in for the night, my flock was attacked by what we believe, based on the tracks, was a fox. It, or they, since there was a lot of damage done over a wide area, killed 4 of my hens and I thought they killed my rooster, Sparrow, but I just found him under a bush. Can't find any blood but he is having a problem with one leg and is obviously in shock. We found another of the hens last night that we thought was dead but she wasn't. Again no blood but she is definitely in shock too, although she laid an egg today anyway. I haven't seen her eat or drink and she prefers to just sit in a nest box, although I have seen her walk. She is slow but steady, so I'm afraid she may have internal injuries.
So my first question is: Is there anything that I can do to help them recover? I put them both back in the coop with the 3 hens that weren't attacked. I thought that might perk them up a little. Of course they have feed and water. I was afraid that if I totally separated them that it could be detrimental.
Question 2: This attack occurred during daylight. We have had fox attacks before, but they only take one hen and you just never find anything. They chased these birds all over a fenced yard that is about a half acre. They ate/took the heads and there were tracks everywhere, thank goodness we still had snow. They didn't eat or take, any of the bodies. I my experience, fox usually take a bird and run off and you never find any signs of the bird.. Yes, they will come back as long as there is a feed source, but I have never had this many birds attacked at once before. Do fox usually hunt together? I always thought they were solitary hunters and I find it hard to believe that one fox killed that many birds, outside, far apart in that short a time span. When I was out there at 5:30 all was well.
I did find where they ripped holes in the fence. And no, the fence is not chicken wire, it is kennel wire. I also found a few spots where they tried to rip holes and didn't succeed. They were definitely ripped as the bottom strands where intact. I've never seen a fox attack like this one, but the tracks don't lie. So now I'm confused as to how I can keep my chickens safe (fairly, I know nothing is fool proof). They didn't dig under at all, so burying the fence won't stop this from happening again.
I'm mad! We have been here for over 20 years and although I have occasionally lost chickens to predators, its never been anything like this. For now, the chickens are staying locked in the coop. That's ok for now as it has very large windows and lots of light as well as room. But I don't want them to stay in there forever, just till we can find another way to protect them. Yes, we free range and I know we are taking chances, but we have really good fencing so I could understand if they went over it, but not going through it. And we check the fencing regularly.
Any suggestions will be appreciated! And if you are so inclined, a prayer for Sparrow and his lady friend would be appreciated too. Sorry this is so long, but I'm sure you can tell I'm upset! Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2017 20:52:25 GMT
Doesn't sound like fox, with the wire. Sounds more like mink, skunk or weasel eating the head, leaving the body and then got scared off. Tracks don't lie....James
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Mar 21, 2017 21:43:13 GMT
So sorry you guys had to go through that countrymom22... I bet you are upset as I would really be too... My only suggestion as far as them being stressed - I'd add some Vitamins/Electrolytes to their water for a few days... Sorry to be of no further help. Take care and I will say a prayer for the remaining ones... ~Mari
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Help!
Mar 21, 2017 22:17:24 GMT
Post by countrymom22 on Mar 21, 2017 22:17:24 GMT
Thanks guys. I just went out and checked on the rooster again and he has barely moved. Then I heard about our weather for the next 36 hours, around freezing and really windy, so I set up a dog crate in the house for him. Figured it would be a good idea to keep him warm. And I don't want the other chickens bothering him or landing on him during the 30-40 mph winds we are expecting.
I'll be taking your suggestion about the electrolytes, Mari, thanks.
@jwal10, my first thought was weasel, but would that happen in as spread out an area as this happened in? I could see a weasel doing that kind of damage if the chickens were in the coop or closely confined area, but that was not the case here. Guess I need to find out what a weasel track looks like. I could swear they were fox tracks, which I have seen before, but I'll never say I couldn't be wrong! I did see some coon tracks, also easily distinguishable around the compost pile and the one side of the coop where we throw the kitchen scraps for the birds, but we never put out enough for there to be any left at the end of the day. I think the coons were just looking for left overs.
I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings. Hope the sweet old guy makes it!
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Post by Woodpecker on Mar 21, 2017 22:42:24 GMT
That's just plain sad. I'm sorry countrymom22, I will certainly say a prayer for Sparrow & his lady friend...we all love our animals!
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Post by Skandi on Mar 21, 2017 23:03:01 GMT
I would keep the injured ones somewhere dark and quiet, not pitch black but dark enough that they want to stay still. obviously food and water should be available
As for protection round here people run a strand of electric wire at about 10inches from the ground, on the outside of the fence, you need to keep the grass strimmed round it but it will stop predators tearing through the wire.
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Post by paquebot on Mar 22, 2017 5:49:17 GMT
Fox tracks but not fox habits? Dog and fox tracks very much alike. Look around the neighborhood for someone with a dog about the size of a fox or a little bigger. If it's not chained or kenneled, that's your chicken killer.
Martin
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Post by hobbitlady on Mar 22, 2017 7:43:41 GMT
countrymom22 ,I so hope your birds are OK. I wish I'd seen this sooner. I've brought three different hens out of attacked-shock by holding them in my lap wrapped in towel(loosely,kind of nested) and petting them and talking to them. They were "frozen up" in shock but responded to being cuddled (one was laying in the bottom of a bucket it hid in and looked dead but I tried and it came to! My husband was shocked;thought she was dead,limp when first picked up, and said he wouldn't have tried anything!). I don't normally cuddle my adult chickens either;just the chicks sometimes...it was something I tried by instinct,to show them I cared. They came to completely within the first 5 minutes after I found them and warmed them like that.A couple of them were a little bloody too,but normal the next day. I agree with paquebot , because I've had someone's loose dog wastefully kill chickens twice (2 different years) and foxes only took what they could carry and never killed several first.
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 22, 2017 22:36:52 GMT
Well, the hen laid an egg yesterday and seems to still be in shock, but she is out in the coop with the other 3 hens. I may remove her if I see the other hens picking on her. One of the reached into the nest box the injured hen was in and pulled the feathers on her head. Now I'm not sure if she is coming out of the nest box to eat and drink. I may have to bring her in. The rooster spent the night in my kitchen, barely moving. I used a warm compress to loosen the mud covering his left eye. Took a few tries but now his eye is halfway open but watering slightly. I hadn't seen him eat or drink anything so I gave him some water with electrolytes with a syringe and he swallowed quite a bit. Then after a few minutes he stood up for the first time. Today he has been standing for slightly longer amounts of time and taking more water although he still hasn't eaten anything. Tomorrow I will put him in a larger crate and see how well he can walk. At this point I am cautiously optimistic that he will recover, but he is a very old rooster so I just don't know. hobbitlady, I have been sitting with him and talking to him, patting him etc. I was hesitant to actually cuddle him, although he is super friendly because I didn't want to hurt him further. I think being in the warm house has really helped him after spending the night and most of yesterday laying on the cold ground in the mud. Skandi, the thought about the electric wire is a good one. I was also wondering if a few strands of barbed wire from ground level to about 2 ft. high would help. Not sure what we are going to do yet. Right now it is so muddy it would be almost impossible to run new fence and get it tight, so I have some time to decide. Dogs occurred to me too, but no one around here has a dog that small. They are all big, like 80# and up, so I doubt that it was a dog. Of course there are tons of dog tracks out there because my dog is in with the chickens a lot, although always supervised. Plus he is so old and decrepit he couldn't hurt then if he wanted to. The rooster often walks around the yard with the dog. I'm leaning more toward @jwal10, idea of skunk, mink or weasel as the tracks are very similar. Maybe the tracks that I thought were coons were one of the others. Could be.
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Post by grannyg on Mar 23, 2017 2:40:50 GMT
Maybe one of the hens will go broody and you can replenish your chickens...just makes me so mad when something gets my hens....
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 24, 2017 1:46:20 GMT
These hens won't go broody as they are Red Sex links. Usually I stick to heritage breeds but I bought these from the 4H to help them raise money to build a permanent building for the poultry exhibit.
The rooster is feeling better and did eat a few pellets today. He is cautiously walking a step at a time in the crate. Tomorrow I will be taking the injured hen out of the coop and putting her in a pen alone because she is being beat up by the other 3 hens who were not attacked every time she sticks her head out of the nest box. I needed hubby's help as we are going to split our very large coop in half by building a wall down the middle. Then when the rooster is well enough to go back outside he can keep her company until they are both strong enough to return to the flock, such as it is. Part of the problem may be that they have been in the coop since Monday night now as I'm afraid to let them out. They are probably getting bored.
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Post by ceresone on Mar 24, 2017 15:56:33 GMT
so many people would think we are crazy, you know.? i have ordered baby chicks to come in june--and i am dreading opening the box--there is usually one or two dead, now i'm afraid the heat will get them on the trip. as i get older, i get softer-hearted for my animals. i so hope your rooster and hen does well. i found out my late husband had fell and was hurt--believe it or not--one hen kept sounding as if she was calling 'help, help.--now, i KNOW you'll think i'm crazy--LOL
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Post by eggshere on Mar 28, 2017 0:17:00 GMT
Raccoons were very destructive around my backyard chicken tractors last summer . . . torn wire and digging under the sides to get in etc. Upon setting a live trap, found enormous Mama--and then three more. Later, trapped a fox. Had noticed a skunk-like odor before catching the fox. If you have a whiff of something like 'skunk-lite' you may be dealing with a fox. No matter what it is--is distressing!
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Post by countrymom22 on Mar 29, 2017 21:50:09 GMT
Well things are looking up. The rooster is back outside with the injured hen who is also doing well. I've been letting the chickens out while I am there to protect them. I don't let them free range but at least they are able to get outside. Hubby and I have decided to move the coop closer to the house, which is not as extreme as that sounds since it is built on a hay wagon bed and is meant to be mobile. Then the Fort Knox like fencing will go in. Hopefully that will get started this weekend, but we are both really busy right now so we'll get is done as soon as we possibly can.
I hate keeping them locked in, and I know they are hating it too, but better bored than dead!
ceresone , if the chicks seem at all stressed, feed them mashed up hard boiled eggs. A few years ago I had a shipment from Murrary McMurray that had apparently been left under an air conditioner vent during transport. After losing a chick or 2 a day and not getting any suggestions from McMurray as to how to help them, I remembered reading years ago about an old timers recipe for helping out chicks that were doing poorly. We had a few chicks that were laying flat out with their heads tilted way back. When we held them up and made them eat they were fine within 24 hours. All of the ones that got the mashed egg survived. Now I start every batch of chicks out with two days of hard boiled egg in addition to their mash. Just a suggestion!
Thanks to everyone for the advice and prayers. They are all much appreciated!
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Post by Woodpecker on Mar 30, 2017 0:06:40 GMT
countrymom22, happy the hen is better and that they are together. It brought back so many memories when I was young. My grandfather would always give the chicks mashed, hard boiled eggs. So did i😊 You brought fond memories and good advice.
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Post by aoconnor on Mar 30, 2017 12:35:54 GMT
I missed this thread somehow. I'm so sorry, I hope you have figured out what happened. Glad to hear the hen and roo are doing better!
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