Building a Hobby Farm- from woods to eggs

tony123 · Oct 20, 2008

Happyman, good to see you got the photo posting to work. That is one healthy looking feller there!

Thanks Peter. But I got more bad news. We came home yesterday to a coop full of feathers and just one chicken. The one that was left has a wound on her side, and seems to be in shock. A few hours later, two of them showed up from hiding in the woods, and just today, a third came back.

Everyone's pretty upset. Based on tracks, it looked like a dog or coyote. The chickenwire was torn in the same place.

Today, I went out and got some 14 guage fence wire and will be doing the coop with that this evening.

All this is unfortunate, but seems to be part of having chickens.

So, the one that's wounded is not moving much still today. She did drink a little water, but I also saw some of the hens picking at the wound. What should I do? put her down? isolate her and wait?

Happyman · Oct 20, 2008

tony123,
Get that camera working and let's see what's eating your chickens

scgargoyle · Oct 20, 2008

Tony- Sorry to hear about the chickens.

Everything eats chicken, it seems. Unfortunately, once a predator finds them, they'll keep coming back, so you'll eventually have to go to a solid coop. I don't know what to tell you about the injured one- you'll probably know soon enough whether or not she'll rally. If she fades, it might be a good time to learn the art of chicken processing.

tony123 · Oct 20, 2008

Hey SC, I wouldn't mind having chicken soup, but my wife brings up a good point. What if the animal that attacked had rabies and passed it on? Could that be a danger when eating her? or if she heals, could it be a danger through her eggs? In the end, it's probably not worth the risk.

New news on the Black Star that turned up a day later...She appeared to be acting fine, but I picked her up and examined...she's got a huge opening in her chest.

I can see bone, muscle, even an organ of some sort.

A little research on the internet showed that chickens sometimes heal from these nasty wounds just by letting mother nature do its thing. But then again, you have the rabies concern....

edit: I just researched the rabies issue...apparently it is only found in mammals, and no threat to chickens (due to there higher body temperature).

scgargoyle · Oct 21, 2008

Hmmm... good question. Maybe a vet would know the answer? I don't know if chickens can get or carry rabies.

tony123 · Oct 21, 2008

Well heck......I got home from work today and we have NO CHICKENS!!!

All we have now is the wounded one that was kept in a box in the garage, and a second wounded one that's living in the woods now....too scared to come back to the coop.

Whatever it is, it has always attacked in the daytime during the short times we're away from the house. Almost like it's watching for us to leave.

This time, it tried to tear the wire, but couldn't. Although it is bent up in several places. It tried to dig, but gave up. We have it in a spot with lots of tree roots and rocky soil. Then, it started working on the door. There are scratch marks on the door. I had a wagon in front of the door that got pushed aside, and eventually, the two barrel latches that were on the door must have given way.

I don't know what I could have done differently? maybe different latches with locks on them would have helped. But it seems this was a determined predator. I bet it would have eaten right through the wall if it had to.

So...."from woods to eggs" is harder to accomplish than I first thought. We're back to square one, and need to regroup. My wife is saying "no more chickens". Any ideas on how to present this to her that I can keep going?

Frustrated,
Tony123

Happyman · Oct 21, 2008

Tonyyyyyyyy.....so sorry to hear about this.
I hate to keep harping on a camera (go buy a cheap one) but once you can identify the predator it will be easier to figure out how to save the chickens.
I think you could talk your wife into more birds when you get her intereted in discovering the culprit.
Set-up a camera and go from there. I know the kids would love the sluething adventure

Taylortractornut · Oct 21, 2008

Buy a live trap with a chicken box in it. Its just a small box that holds a chicken for bait. I ve helped catch several dogs coyotes and bobcats in these. I think they are about 50 bucks at TSC or the local Co Op.

polo1665 · Oct 22, 2008

Tony, Sorry to hear about the lost chickens. It seemed that everything was going so well. I have to agree with Happyman, it would be much easier to deal with the problem if you knew what the problem was. Unfortunately though, it seems that you have run out of "bait". I hope you and the wife decide to try again. I've really enjoyed reading of your projects and I hate to see this project end on a sour note. The boys must really be disappointed.

I own two game cameras that I am currently not using (got the deer to come to the back yard so now I don't need to take pictures). I would probably be willing to loan you one of them to identify your poultry snatcher. PM me if you decide to go that route. It seems that you could use about anything tasty for bait.

Good Luck
Mark

Tororider · Oct 22, 2008

Tony,
Sorry to hear about your troubles. I was able to get a two pack of traps at TSC for around $40 I think.

Could it be a large dog? I am just wondering with the daylight attacks and all if that is a possibility.

I hope you decide to try again. Maybe with started pullets or adult birds as you have done the chick thing already. Although I am sure your boys would enjoy starting over with chicks again. I know mine love it every time we hatch out another batch. Good luck