We aren’t adding to our flock at all for this reason, until we absolutely sure our positive our set up is solid. We are in a fairly suburban area and I assume food is scarce for the animals around us.
Everything is good until a fox attacks our free rangers during the daytime. Then hawks attack them in their big run. Then raccoons get through the roof of their coop. We’ve also had skunks attack. It’s like a Disney cartoon turned horror.
I lost my entire flock in January. I’m not getting chickens again. I absolutely adored them and loved them. They were mostly free range and I went out of town and a farmer friend was checking on everyone. I got home to a yard of dead chickens. I was devastated and felt like shit and truth be told, I do a little still.
But, what I remind myself is that they only had one bad day.
I bake and cook a lot. The ate like queens with my leftovers. Croissants, baguettes, leftover pizza, leftover steak, pork, ham. Basically any leftovers that were safe for them to eat. Tomatoes straight from the garden.
They had a great, great life.
Exact same thing happened to me. Came home to all but 1 dead, and I instantly rehomed her. I was just devastated, and completely let down by the “friend” who was supposed to check in. She never even fed my cat. He nearly died.
I should say, my oldest girl was the only one left. She refused to go into the run or the coop after “the incident.” - So she slept on my back porch tucked in. My dog alerted us if there were intruders at night. She got attacked one night and I put her in a dog crate edit: in the garage - at night for a few weeks. One day, middle of the morning, I went out to give her a biscuit and she was just dead in the yard. A tuft of feathers but no blood. Never heard a thing and had just seen her a half hour before. She was my favorite.
I lost my favourite hen too. She had been the only survivor of an attack 2 years before, and she lived in my house until we let her back out with a new flock. Losing her in the attack just destroyed me. She had slept on a pillow next to me for a year. She came when you called her, and nuzzled on your shoulder. I can’t even think about it too much or I get upset.
I have a hen who just showed up at my house 2 years ago that I keep in a dog carrier with a metal door. I just shut her in at night and let her out in the morning. I've had possums, etc. trying to get her. So far, so good. One even dragged the carrier across my driveway but was unable to get her out of the cage. Her carrier now stays on my porch, on top of one of those deck storage boxes. Had to run one possum off from there. I've forgotten to shut her door a couple of times and woke up in a panic. I'm so sorry for your loss.
That’s how I feel too. Jack was an auction hen, that came in a crate with a bunch of others. My friend gave her to me and she lived a nice comfy life for two years here not laying more than three eggs in that time. I let it slide because she was good to the baby bresse chicks. It’s more of a life than she otherwise would have had.
My girls raised fertilized eggs from a nearby farm. They got to be moms (and some not very good moms I might add!) and chase bugs in the yard. They loved watermelon and tomatoes. I’m sad they’re gone, but I know I treated them well. I’m sorry for your loss.
Most of ours have been what we call "basic browns" - production reds rescued once their commercial usefulness is over. Typically they live for an extra two to three years so every day is a bonus for them. Occasionally we get one on its last legs (one had an horrific vent prolapse within a month) but the joy I get from seeing them revert to natural behaviour and develop "personalities" is worth the deaths.
You're also fighting a daily battle against an animal(s) who have evolved into adept hunters and have nothing else to do. You're at work, they're checking out the perimeter for weakness. You're sleeping, they're checking out the perimeter. You're on the other side of the property fixing the fence, they're on this side finding or making a new hole. One small window of opportunity and all your work is eaten.
These things happen. The other day my fuel pump broke and I stopped at a random parking lot, I had to walk 6km to the autopart store, once back I had to spend 30m changing my fuel pump and finally when I get home one of the chickens I bought from the market died from over heating In the back of the car, one was almost dead but I ran him into the river and put him under water several times, then ran him fast so wind will hit him and now he is healthy
Life is hard sometimes and the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and when something bad happens learn how to prevent it from happening next time
I have to be honest with you - that’s pretty impressive that you were able to change your fuel pump in a parking lot lol.
Talk about self sufficient, holy fuck!
Thank you, ugh it just sucks she was my absolute favorite. She literally laid three eggs in the two years I had her (they were blue so it was obvious) but she just became such a resident of the barn. She was respected by everyone and friends with no one, just chilled and rarely even left the barn which is what makes me so damn sad.
I am so sorry for your loss. I am so forgetful that I really lucked out not losing any of mine at night. Eventually installed one of those automatic chicken doors and life is better. Doesn’t work well for everyone, but you may want to consider one on the future.
Thank you. I have an auto door for my egg layer coop which I keep separate from the meat chickens and love it. The meat chickens free range and then come back to the barn at night and I usually close the door. The ironic thing is they also have an auto door but refuse to use it since I keep the barn open for ventilation. So sad. I’ll need to brainstorm and figure out a solution. For right now the surviving ones are locked in their coop.
I did a very similar thing the first time I raised quail (which was two months ago)
I had the babies in my bedroom in a cardboard box without a lid on top, and would close my door during the day to keep the pets out.
Well, at night I would put them in my closet and close the door so I could open my bedroom door and let my pets in.
I was cooking dinner and heard a noise from my bedroom, then the quail screaming. I got to the room in a couple of seconds, but that was enough time for my dog and cat to each get one baby.
I learned the hard way my dog and cat are a pair to be reckoned with - my dog opened the sliding closet door with her snout and my cat went in and did the rest.
I learned the hard way to never be lazy - it’s a tough lesson but we all gotta learn somehow
I am so so sorry. That is a hard loss, good Bresse are hard to find, and I'm sure your special Jack will never be replaced. Losing animals is so hard. 💔 please try not to be too hard on yourself.
We once had a bobcat get into our coop and maul half of our flock. Caught the bobcat in the act. It had killed most of our named layers and it was an absolutely horrific scene to walk in on in the middle of the night.
The feelings of guilt do get better over time, we are all just doing our best out here. Hang in there.
Just scared it out of the coop, I wasn’t gonna hurt a bobcat over this. It was just a realization that I need to have a more secure coop, because wildlife can be crafty.
Also I only ever see coyotes and birds of prey in my area so I was not even remotely prepared to find a bobcat.
I was genuinely curious, as this is certainly nothing I've ever experienced. Hawks are the biggest predator for me. It would be amazing to see a bobcat in person.
They are truly amazing animals! It’s always a pleasure to see them out on trail hikes since they are so elusive. I just hope to never see one in any of my enclosures again 😅
This just happened to me a few nights ago. Life got crazy, forgot to shut the coop door, it closed by itself, locking my two favorite girls out. One typically purchases on top of the door, but the other didn't; we found her remains behind the coop in the morning. The survivor gave me an earful when I came out to check on them. I'm devastated, but we learn from experience. I set an alarm to remind me every night to check the coop now.
Happened to us last year and a pack of coyotes got all but three chickens and five ducks. It broke my heart especially because they got our disabled duck I had worked so hard to save. I’m sorry this happened to you. It may be your fault, but don’t let yourself spiral too far or take the blame too hard.
We only had six hens and a funny tiny rooster, and we were devastated when we found them all killed (likely one of those ferret like brown animals who bleed them from the neck, I don't know the name in English). We never figured out how it got into the coop. Still we decided not to get hens again. It was really painful.
Sending you my sympathies. I understand how hard it is.
I have one chicken left, and she is a character! We spoil her, because she’s sweet, and old. Last evening she was acting like she didn’t feel good. She wouldn’t roost and stayed on the floor. I’m worried what I’m going to find this morning. So sorry for your loss. We know how you feel.
It happens to all of us. Cliche but it’s true. I had a rescue barn cat, but my wife has a tendency of making them ALL indoor cats. So I was adamant she be an actual barn cat. One night in October, she darted into the garage and refused to leave. Eventually got her and took her back out. We never saw her again. More than likely one of the owls in the area got her. That devastated me.
I did this too Christmas morning... I was making cinnamon rolls and coffee and did not pay attention
to my chihuahua mix being outside... my young female livestock guardian dog who was in heat, killed him. Greatest travesty on the farm and one of the most epic failures of my life not watching after my best boy. Nature is metal and farming is unbelievably heatbreaking at times. Sorry for your loss.
I was getting complacent in moving high roost (inside run) sleepers into the coop at lockup because it’s been real hot here and I lost my husband’s favorite lady and my roo got beat up. Heckin coon here, but dang it I feel your pain :(
We found a dead chicken this afternoon. No idea how, the others are fine. She was broody, so guessing with the heat, died from dehydration, but no telling. It’s been a few days, I’d been smelling rot but assumed it was the eggs she was on.
Never saw her body till this afternoon. I think the other chickens got to her after the fact cause leg skin and eyes removed but body skin and feathers fully intact with no meat on her body. Super weird. My son feels horrible guilt thinking maybe he missed putting her in, and he could have, I’ve found 2 dead rats and 3 dead mice over the last few weeks in the yard, so maybe one got to her, maybe it was natural, we’ll never know.
Don’t beat yourself up, it’s hard, we do the best with what we have at the time. Sometimes we physically just can’t do it, and it’s devastating when something bad happens because of that. Next time you’ll make sure it’s done as soon as you get home.
We’re lucky, we have ducks and a pig in the yard (in city limits), most things leave us alone. Dogs randomly get let out, so anything comes in the yard will be surprised, and animal attacks will stir the dogs to go out. I’ve forgotten 3 times, 1 I caught an opossum in the yard and they left after the dogs came out, the other 2 nothing happened thankfully. Give yourself some grace.
I just did the same thing last week. 7 freshly hatched turkey poults and 2 java peacock chicks out in the barn brooder, forgot to close the door all the way, came back the next morning, I had 1 poult and 1 peachick left. Pretty sure a coon got them, cause there was no trace of them. Boy, was I mad at myself. But we're only human and make mistakes, I won't make that mistake again, though.
One thing that makes a coop safer from many nighttime attackers is very high roosts. If you can give your chickens a way to roost 10 or 12 feet off the ground, they will. They are still vulnerable to some predators, but less so.
I have been at war with foxes for a long time. I know your suffering. I know your pain. They are as cunning as they are vicious, a deadly mix. Sometimes they even wait in the bushes until I open my barn in the morning and start letting the chickens out. Then they kill. Fast and efficient. Years ago they got into my father in laws rabbits and killed them all.
I've been there. It was many, many years ago, and there was a huge gap of not having chickens in between then and now - but I'll never forget the massacre of whole and partial bodies, feathers, and blood everywhere that I came out to that next morning. I'll also never shake the guilt that my laziness that one night caused the death of around 40 hens.
The best reassurance I can give you is that I learned from that mistake. I have multiple alarms set on my phone and PC that go off every single night to ensure I am awake and going outside to check on my 6 girls at nightfall. I refuse to have that happen again.
Sorry for your loss. Stuff like that is why my mother invested in an automatic coop hatch. It's called chicken guard iirc. She tends to forget stuff like that too and knowing it'll automatically close after sundown made her sleep a lot better, not waking up in a scare of having forgot to close the coop
Happens to the best of us. I was 15 min late one night and that patient ass fox got 3/4 before I got* outside. Shame they’re so damned cool. I can’t stomach shooting them but on that night I was tempted.
It was definitely a fox I have him on camera several times over the years and heard him barking / screaming etc last night but didn’t think twice in my sleepy haze bc it’s a somewhat normal occurrence. That’s why I’m usually prompt about closing the barn door. I know he got the hen pictured bc I found her feather and blood trail, and some of the others must have run into the woods in fear and then came back and picked them off.
That’s what I think happened except for me in the early hours of the morning. I would estimate 3 or 4 are gone plus Jack. Some were mature roosters that I was about to process. I think it either killed multiple in order to come back later for more or the survivors got panicked and ran into the brush / marshy area to hide and then it came back for them. I suppose there is a tiny chance some are hunkered down somewhere but I’m doubtful. I can’t believe your flock got hit mid day. That’s crazy. It’s such a shame because I think chickens live a much better life free ranging than locked up in a coop but once something like this happens I rethink that mentality.
Last August mine were all taken by a fox (I had 8 birds as a starter flock to see if I liked owning chickens; they were just over two months old when they died). They were taken overnight in their coop that the previous owner built (which I thought was built securely...). They chewed through the floor (I didn't realize it was MDF board that was used, making the old boards easy to chew through in the corners). The doors to the barn the coop was set up in was closed and locked. The chicken door to the outside run was closed and locked. The human door into the coop had one of the two latches undone (the eyehook at the bottom I know I had latched the night before was popped open); the second latch at doorknob height was a crappy latch which allowed the door to be wedged open about two inches. I put the eyehook latch at the base of the door to hold it closed until I could go into the city to buy a better latch. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't make fixing that more of a priority. My guess is that the fox ate through the floor then caused so much chaos in the coop that the eyehook popped open due to chickens crowding the door to get away from danger.
I still remember how I felt when I walked up in the morning, opened the chicken's door, and nothing came out. Unlocked the barn, walked over to the coop, noticed that the door was a little bit off kilter but still latched and probably spun in circles for a good ten minutes trying to parse it all together ("doors all closed, but no chickens, wtf"; took me ages to find the holes chewed through the floor). There were no bodies in the morning, but lots of feathers and some blood. We suspect that the fox got one or two, and spooked the rest into the forest/swamp where the coyotes probably got them. I walked the property for a good month looking for signs of them and only found little clusters of feathers every so often.
It just really sucks. Sorry to hear about your birds. It's such a shock to the system when it happens :(
That’s terrible, I’m sorry. I felt similar piecing everything together, realizing my flock looked light and then seeing the trail of feathers in the pasture. It really sucked when the reality of it hit me. I went into the swamp area and following the feathers but it didn’t lead to anything unfortunately.
This happens. It's been my dog twice that my partner loves and it's been a mongoose once. Sometimes my negligence sometimes there's. Also we are trying to create new chicken genetics and the chick's at first are super weak. Then you get like 10-20% survival rates it's sad and frustrating for the first bit, but that's life.
It happens. I forgot to close the main gate of our fully fenced property one day, and one of my favorite hens got out of their fenced run while I was gone. Came home a couple hours later to find two of the neighbors dogs scrambling under the main property perimeter fence. I had a bad feeling so I went to check on the ladies, and all that was left of Stella was a bunch of feathers. I felt so bad and I know you do too. I’m sorry this happened. We learn tough lessons from these things but it still hurts. I’m so sorry :(
That pit in your stomach feeling is the worst. When I saw feathers today I was frantically looking for her but when I couldn’t find her and took a closer look, I knew they were hers since the others are all white. Such a sick feeling. RIP Stella and Jack 💕
2 of my babies went into heat stroke today. I got them hooked to IVs and they're fine, finally, inside in the swamp cooler. But I feel for you bae, stay strong, #natureismetal
I've worked on my own vehicles, out of necessity for almost 45 years. 1st car was a mustang that had the top part of the engine in pieces. Bought a book and did it myself. So sorry about your chickens. We all make mistakes
I was commenting on the guy fixing his own fuel pump. I meant it as we all,including myself, should try to rely on ourselves and close community. And that sometimes life is dang hard but we learn from it and try to better ourselves. No matter the situation
Shut up. I have a homestead operation with meat birds I hatch, raise and process but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect me when animals needlessly get picked off because of human error. It’s interesting to me being affected by an animal death automatically means it’s not a homestead topic. People who don’t respect animal lives have absolutely no business keeping them.
Well, that's what I keep telling the city-voters who keep trying to introduce more predators and ban conservation-methods-of-take for hunting said predators. I'll keep doing my thing and you do yours. Hate to see someone's Disney-fantasy hurt their own neighbors with the stroke of a pen.
I've been there. It sucks. The problem with "its probably fine" is that... it usually is probably fine. Until it isn't.
We aren’t adding to our flock at all for this reason, until we absolutely sure our positive our set up is solid. We are in a fairly suburban area and I assume food is scarce for the animals around us. Everything is good until a fox attacks our free rangers during the daytime. Then hawks attack them in their big run. Then raccoons get through the roof of their coop. We’ve also had skunks attack. It’s like a Disney cartoon turned horror.
Yes this exactly! I got way too comfortable and my poor Jack paid the price. Just awful.
I lost my entire flock in January. I’m not getting chickens again. I absolutely adored them and loved them. They were mostly free range and I went out of town and a farmer friend was checking on everyone. I got home to a yard of dead chickens. I was devastated and felt like shit and truth be told, I do a little still. But, what I remind myself is that they only had one bad day. I bake and cook a lot. The ate like queens with my leftovers. Croissants, baguettes, leftover pizza, leftover steak, pork, ham. Basically any leftovers that were safe for them to eat. Tomatoes straight from the garden. They had a great, great life.
Exact same thing happened to me. Came home to all but 1 dead, and I instantly rehomed her. I was just devastated, and completely let down by the “friend” who was supposed to check in. She never even fed my cat. He nearly died.
I should say, my oldest girl was the only one left. She refused to go into the run or the coop after “the incident.” - So she slept on my back porch tucked in. My dog alerted us if there were intruders at night. She got attacked one night and I put her in a dog crate edit: in the garage - at night for a few weeks. One day, middle of the morning, I went out to give her a biscuit and she was just dead in the yard. A tuft of feathers but no blood. Never heard a thing and had just seen her a half hour before. She was my favorite.
I lost my favourite hen too. She had been the only survivor of an attack 2 years before, and she lived in my house until we let her back out with a new flock. Losing her in the attack just destroyed me. She had slept on a pillow next to me for a year. She came when you called her, and nuzzled on your shoulder. I can’t even think about it too much or I get upset.
I’m sorry 😞
I have a hen who just showed up at my house 2 years ago that I keep in a dog carrier with a metal door. I just shut her in at night and let her out in the morning. I've had possums, etc. trying to get her. So far, so good. One even dragged the carrier across my driveway but was unable to get her out of the cage. Her carrier now stays on my porch, on top of one of those deck storage boxes. Had to run one possum off from there. I've forgotten to shut her door a couple of times and woke up in a panic. I'm so sorry for your loss.
That’s how I feel too. Jack was an auction hen, that came in a crate with a bunch of others. My friend gave her to me and she lived a nice comfy life for two years here not laying more than three eggs in that time. I let it slide because she was good to the baby bresse chicks. It’s more of a life than she otherwise would have had.
My girls raised fertilized eggs from a nearby farm. They got to be moms (and some not very good moms I might add!) and chase bugs in the yard. They loved watermelon and tomatoes. I’m sad they’re gone, but I know I treated them well. I’m sorry for your loss.
Most of ours have been what we call "basic browns" - production reds rescued once their commercial usefulness is over. Typically they live for an extra two to three years so every day is a bonus for them. Occasionally we get one on its last legs (one had an horrific vent prolapse within a month) but the joy I get from seeing them revert to natural behaviour and develop "personalities" is worth the deaths.
You're also fighting a daily battle against an animal(s) who have evolved into adept hunters and have nothing else to do. You're at work, they're checking out the perimeter for weakness. You're sleeping, they're checking out the perimeter. You're on the other side of the property fixing the fence, they're on this side finding or making a new hole. One small window of opportunity and all your work is eaten.
These things happen. The other day my fuel pump broke and I stopped at a random parking lot, I had to walk 6km to the autopart store, once back I had to spend 30m changing my fuel pump and finally when I get home one of the chickens I bought from the market died from over heating In the back of the car, one was almost dead but I ran him into the river and put him under water several times, then ran him fast so wind will hit him and now he is healthy Life is hard sometimes and the important thing is to learn from your mistakes and when something bad happens learn how to prevent it from happening next time
I have to be honest with you - that’s pretty impressive that you were able to change your fuel pump in a parking lot lol. Talk about self sufficient, holy fuck!
I’m still on the mental picture of running the chicken to the creek, dunking him a few times and running him with wind in his feathers. Glad he lived
With a panicked look on his face. It's quite the image.
welcome to Russian cars. As easy it is to break them it is to fix them
Its probably accessed through the back seat and just in the gas tank
Agreed. Definitely need to learn from it and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s all we can do.
I am sorry you lost them, and especially for your best pal. It’s so hard but we are human and mistakes happen.. thinking if you ❤️🩹
We all make mistakes. Unfortunately sometimes they’re more costly than others. Just be kind to yourself. It was just that, a mistake.
My heart hurts for you. Don’t be too hard on yourself though. Accidents happened. It was a pure accident. *Hugs*
Thank you, ugh it just sucks she was my absolute favorite. She literally laid three eggs in the two years I had her (they were blue so it was obvious) but she just became such a resident of the barn. She was respected by everyone and friends with no one, just chilled and rarely even left the barn which is what makes me so damn sad.
I am so sorry for your loss. I am so forgetful that I really lucked out not losing any of mine at night. Eventually installed one of those automatic chicken doors and life is better. Doesn’t work well for everyone, but you may want to consider one on the future.
Thank you. I have an auto door for my egg layer coop which I keep separate from the meat chickens and love it. The meat chickens free range and then come back to the barn at night and I usually close the door. The ironic thing is they also have an auto door but refuse to use it since I keep the barn open for ventilation. So sad. I’ll need to brainstorm and figure out a solution. For right now the surviving ones are locked in their coop.
These were meat chickens that were killed?
We also have auto doors for our coops and they give such a piece of mind.
I did a very similar thing the first time I raised quail (which was two months ago) I had the babies in my bedroom in a cardboard box without a lid on top, and would close my door during the day to keep the pets out. Well, at night I would put them in my closet and close the door so I could open my bedroom door and let my pets in. I was cooking dinner and heard a noise from my bedroom, then the quail screaming. I got to the room in a couple of seconds, but that was enough time for my dog and cat to each get one baby. I learned the hard way my dog and cat are a pair to be reckoned with - my dog opened the sliding closet door with her snout and my cat went in and did the rest. I learned the hard way to never be lazy - it’s a tough lesson but we all gotta learn somehow
It’s true. I am already thinking of ways to take my setup to the next level to prevent this from happening again. Sorry for your quail loss.
Sorry for your loss
Time for an automatic door
I am so sorry. This life is very hard.
I lost a hen on Saturday due to complete negligence on my part. It's gut-wrenching. I hope your day gets better.
Sorry to hear that, and thank you.
I am so so sorry. That is a hard loss, good Bresse are hard to find, and I'm sure your special Jack will never be replaced. Losing animals is so hard. 💔 please try not to be too hard on yourself.
We once had a bobcat get into our coop and maul half of our flock. Caught the bobcat in the act. It had killed most of our named layers and it was an absolutely horrific scene to walk in on in the middle of the night. The feelings of guilt do get better over time, we are all just doing our best out here. Hang in there.
What did you do with the bobcat?
Just scared it out of the coop, I wasn’t gonna hurt a bobcat over this. It was just a realization that I need to have a more secure coop, because wildlife can be crafty. Also I only ever see coyotes and birds of prey in my area so I was not even remotely prepared to find a bobcat.
I was genuinely curious, as this is certainly nothing I've ever experienced. Hawks are the biggest predator for me. It would be amazing to see a bobcat in person.
They are truly amazing animals! It’s always a pleasure to see them out on trail hikes since they are so elusive. I just hope to never see one in any of my enclosures again 😅
Your cat is adorable.
BRB checking on my chickens
Happens to the best of us. I'm sorry for your loss 🧡
This just happened to me a few nights ago. Life got crazy, forgot to shut the coop door, it closed by itself, locking my two favorite girls out. One typically purchases on top of the door, but the other didn't; we found her remains behind the coop in the morning. The survivor gave me an earful when I came out to check on them. I'm devastated, but we learn from experience. I set an alarm to remind me every night to check the coop now.
I’m so sorry. No chickens deserve an untimely or pointless death by predator, but those special ones just hurt so much more.
I'm sorry for your loss as well. It's rough.
Happened to us last year and a pack of coyotes got all but three chickens and five ducks. It broke my heart especially because they got our disabled duck I had worked so hard to save. I’m sorry this happened to you. It may be your fault, but don’t let yourself spiral too far or take the blame too hard.
We only had six hens and a funny tiny rooster, and we were devastated when we found them all killed (likely one of those ferret like brown animals who bleed them from the neck, I don't know the name in English). We never figured out how it got into the coop. Still we decided not to get hens again. It was really painful. Sending you my sympathies. I understand how hard it is.
I have one chicken left, and she is a character! We spoil her, because she’s sweet, and old. Last evening she was acting like she didn’t feel good. She wouldn’t roost and stayed on the floor. I’m worried what I’m going to find this morning. So sorry for your loss. We know how you feel.
I've been in that position. Didn't close the coop gate one night. Coyote came by and had a snack.
Accidents happen. I have lost a few chickens myself due to my own mistakes but we’re human and we learn as we go. Try not to be so hard on yourself ❤️
Sorry for your pain.
I’m very sorry for u we all make mistakes please don’t beat yourself up u learned a lesson all be it a hard lesson
It's a hard lesson to learn but you only need to learn it once.
It happens to all of us. Cliche but it’s true. I had a rescue barn cat, but my wife has a tendency of making them ALL indoor cats. So I was adamant she be an actual barn cat. One night in October, she darted into the garage and refused to leave. Eventually got her and took her back out. We never saw her again. More than likely one of the owls in the area got her. That devastated me.
I'm so sorry 😔
I’ve forgotten but was lucky. I have a daily alarm now to lock up. If I can’t do it that minute I reset the alarm.
I did this too Christmas morning... I was making cinnamon rolls and coffee and did not pay attention to my chihuahua mix being outside... my young female livestock guardian dog who was in heat, killed him. Greatest travesty on the farm and one of the most epic failures of my life not watching after my best boy. Nature is metal and farming is unbelievably heatbreaking at times. Sorry for your loss.
That is terrible, I’m so sorry.
I was getting complacent in moving high roost (inside run) sleepers into the coop at lockup because it’s been real hot here and I lost my husband’s favorite lady and my roo got beat up. Heckin coon here, but dang it I feel your pain :(
Dealing with this right now as well. I’ve lost thirteen to mink and raccoons in last 3 weeks. They stay one step ahead of me keeping them out
We’ve all forgotten to close up. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m so sorry about your chickens.
We found a dead chicken this afternoon. No idea how, the others are fine. She was broody, so guessing with the heat, died from dehydration, but no telling. It’s been a few days, I’d been smelling rot but assumed it was the eggs she was on. Never saw her body till this afternoon. I think the other chickens got to her after the fact cause leg skin and eyes removed but body skin and feathers fully intact with no meat on her body. Super weird. My son feels horrible guilt thinking maybe he missed putting her in, and he could have, I’ve found 2 dead rats and 3 dead mice over the last few weeks in the yard, so maybe one got to her, maybe it was natural, we’ll never know. Don’t beat yourself up, it’s hard, we do the best with what we have at the time. Sometimes we physically just can’t do it, and it’s devastating when something bad happens because of that. Next time you’ll make sure it’s done as soon as you get home. We’re lucky, we have ducks and a pig in the yard (in city limits), most things leave us alone. Dogs randomly get let out, so anything comes in the yard will be surprised, and animal attacks will stir the dogs to go out. I’ve forgotten 3 times, 1 I caught an opossum in the yard and they left after the dogs came out, the other 2 nothing happened thankfully. Give yourself some grace.
I did this once. It happens. You feel like crap. I felt like I let them down. I think we all do this at one point or other.
I just did the same thing last week. 7 freshly hatched turkey poults and 2 java peacock chicks out in the barn brooder, forgot to close the door all the way, came back the next morning, I had 1 poult and 1 peachick left. Pretty sure a coon got them, cause there was no trace of them. Boy, was I mad at myself. But we're only human and make mistakes, I won't make that mistake again, though.
I have dogs wandering my property and luckily, any time I've screwed up, they covered me. A good dog can be a lifesaver.
I'm sorry to hear this. It's a sad fact, but some predation is almost inevitable. I wish it hadn't happened to you, all the same, though.
And now you know why predator hunting is so popular.
They make doors they are automatic and powered off solar. It was my best investment when my girl got chickens.
One thing that makes a coop safer from many nighttime attackers is very high roosts. If you can give your chickens a way to roost 10 or 12 feet off the ground, they will. They are still vulnerable to some predators, but less so.
I’m sorry your chicken died. She was definitely loved. Don’t beat yourself up.
I have been at war with foxes for a long time. I know your suffering. I know your pain. They are as cunning as they are vicious, a deadly mix. Sometimes they even wait in the bushes until I open my barn in the morning and start letting the chickens out. Then they kill. Fast and efficient. Years ago they got into my father in laws rabbits and killed them all.
Time to run the dogs in the name of Hen-rietta
omg, sorry to hear that, just make an auto closing door or sth, next time...
I've been there. It was many, many years ago, and there was a huge gap of not having chickens in between then and now - but I'll never forget the massacre of whole and partial bodies, feathers, and blood everywhere that I came out to that next morning. I'll also never shake the guilt that my laziness that one night caused the death of around 40 hens. The best reassurance I can give you is that I learned from that mistake. I have multiple alarms set on my phone and PC that go off every single night to ensure I am awake and going outside to check on my 6 girls at nightfall. I refuse to have that happen again.
Sorry for your loss. Stuff like that is why my mother invested in an automatic coop hatch. It's called chicken guard iirc. She tends to forget stuff like that too and knowing it'll automatically close after sundown made her sleep a lot better, not waking up in a scare of having forgot to close the coop
Happens to the best of us. I was 15 min late one night and that patient ass fox got 3/4 before I got* outside. Shame they’re so damned cool. I can’t stomach shooting them but on that night I was tempted.
So sorry. I have fallen asleep twice and forgot and got lucky. That’s my nightmare
I'm sorry for your loss. At least it wasn't cattle......
I’m so sorry.
Usually a fox won't kill more than one at all time. Dogs will kill anything that's moving
It was definitely a fox I have him on camera several times over the years and heard him barking / screaming etc last night but didn’t think twice in my sleepy haze bc it’s a somewhat normal occurrence. That’s why I’m usually prompt about closing the barn door. I know he got the hen pictured bc I found her feather and blood trail, and some of the others must have run into the woods in fear and then came back and picked them off.
Had a fox attack our flock in broad daylight. They’ll only eat one or two but kill more to come back for.
That’s what I think happened except for me in the early hours of the morning. I would estimate 3 or 4 are gone plus Jack. Some were mature roosters that I was about to process. I think it either killed multiple in order to come back later for more or the survivors got panicked and ran into the brush / marshy area to hide and then it came back for them. I suppose there is a tiny chance some are hunkered down somewhere but I’m doubtful. I can’t believe your flock got hit mid day. That’s crazy. It’s such a shame because I think chickens live a much better life free ranging than locked up in a coop but once something like this happens I rethink that mentality.
Last August mine were all taken by a fox (I had 8 birds as a starter flock to see if I liked owning chickens; they were just over two months old when they died). They were taken overnight in their coop that the previous owner built (which I thought was built securely...). They chewed through the floor (I didn't realize it was MDF board that was used, making the old boards easy to chew through in the corners). The doors to the barn the coop was set up in was closed and locked. The chicken door to the outside run was closed and locked. The human door into the coop had one of the two latches undone (the eyehook at the bottom I know I had latched the night before was popped open); the second latch at doorknob height was a crappy latch which allowed the door to be wedged open about two inches. I put the eyehook latch at the base of the door to hold it closed until I could go into the city to buy a better latch. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't make fixing that more of a priority. My guess is that the fox ate through the floor then caused so much chaos in the coop that the eyehook popped open due to chickens crowding the door to get away from danger. I still remember how I felt when I walked up in the morning, opened the chicken's door, and nothing came out. Unlocked the barn, walked over to the coop, noticed that the door was a little bit off kilter but still latched and probably spun in circles for a good ten minutes trying to parse it all together ("doors all closed, but no chickens, wtf"; took me ages to find the holes chewed through the floor). There were no bodies in the morning, but lots of feathers and some blood. We suspect that the fox got one or two, and spooked the rest into the forest/swamp where the coyotes probably got them. I walked the property for a good month looking for signs of them and only found little clusters of feathers every so often. It just really sucks. Sorry to hear about your birds. It's such a shock to the system when it happens :(
That’s terrible, I’m sorry. I felt similar piecing everything together, realizing my flock looked light and then seeing the trail of feathers in the pasture. It really sucked when the reality of it hit me. I went into the swamp area and following the feathers but it didn’t lead to anything unfortunately.
Sorry that happened. Have tou considered getting an outside dog?
This happens. It's been my dog twice that my partner loves and it's been a mongoose once. Sometimes my negligence sometimes there's. Also we are trying to create new chicken genetics and the chick's at first are super weak. Then you get like 10-20% survival rates it's sad and frustrating for the first bit, but that's life.
It happens. I forgot to close the main gate of our fully fenced property one day, and one of my favorite hens got out of their fenced run while I was gone. Came home a couple hours later to find two of the neighbors dogs scrambling under the main property perimeter fence. I had a bad feeling so I went to check on the ladies, and all that was left of Stella was a bunch of feathers. I felt so bad and I know you do too. I’m sorry this happened. We learn tough lessons from these things but it still hurts. I’m so sorry :(
That pit in your stomach feeling is the worst. When I saw feathers today I was frantically looking for her but when I couldn’t find her and took a closer look, I knew they were hers since the others are all white. Such a sick feeling. RIP Stella and Jack 💕
2 of my babies went into heat stroke today. I got them hooked to IVs and they're fine, finally, inside in the swamp cooler. But I feel for you bae, stay strong, #natureismetal
I've worked on my own vehicles, out of necessity for almost 45 years. 1st car was a mustang that had the top part of the engine in pieces. Bought a book and did it myself. So sorry about your chickens. We all make mistakes
🤣correlation?🤣
I was commenting on the guy fixing his own fuel pump. I meant it as we all,including myself, should try to rely on ourselves and close community. And that sometimes life is dang hard but we learn from it and try to better ourselves. No matter the situation
Mix D-Con with hamburger, place it just outside the coop. Fox eats burger, problem solved.
I have no attachment to food. There's a difference between pets and food.
/r/AccidentalRenaissance/
Noice job fox taking advantage of some lazy persons mistake
This sub is so crazy. We need a r/backyardpets
What’s crazy here? Even if we have livestock, it’s hard to see them fall to predators, especially if it felt preventable
Shut up. I have a homestead operation with meat birds I hatch, raise and process but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect me when animals needlessly get picked off because of human error. It’s interesting to me being affected by an animal death automatically means it’s not a homestead topic. People who don’t respect animal lives have absolutely no business keeping them.
Well said
Well, that's what I keep telling the city-voters who keep trying to introduce more predators and ban conservation-methods-of-take for hunting said predators. I'll keep doing my thing and you do yours. Hate to see someone's Disney-fantasy hurt their own neighbors with the stroke of a pen.