Today, we lost all our chickens. Yes, all of them.
We were working in the woods cutting firewood all day, and we left the chickens in a temporary enclosure that we'd set up for them. They have spent many unsupervised hours in this enclosure without concern, and we were confident about its security. We just wanted our ladies to be able to enjoy the outdoors before their slacking mom's put up their permanent fence.
When we came back to the house at the end of the day, this is what we found:
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| The empty coop. |
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| Hard to see, but the hole in the chicken wire isn't that big. |
We don't really know what to think. There was evidence of one bird a little distance from the coop, but other than that, nothing. Typically, when the birds just disappear like this, the culprit is a fox. The thing that doesn't make sense is that our dogs were outside all day, and it seems unlikely they would allow a fox to come up to the coop. So then, did our dogs do it? The hole is not big enough for Oliver to fit through without some serious scratching. If he did squeeze through it, wouldn't there be evidence of birds in the coop and around? Feathers, anything? Maybe Olive could squeeze her head through the hole, but the chickens would most definitely run from her not towards her. Neither of them have cuts in their mouths from chewing chicken wire, there was no fur left on the fencing, and neither of them looks like they just ate 8 birds. Olive is not a hoarder of treats or toys, so it seems unlikely she stashed the birds somewhere else. Oliver is a hoarder, but he doesn't have a scratch or speck of blood on him. The whole thing doesn't make sense.
Our going theory is that our dogs were off on a chipmunk hunt in the woods, and a fox (or fisher) took the birds. We have seen a fox quite close to the house before, so this wouldn't be surprising. We haven't ruled out that our own dogs are the culprits, but there are too many things against that to make it for sure. I guess we will never know for sure, but we will certainly be using a more sturdy fence in the permanent fence.
For those who are wondering, the ducks are fine. And, yes, we are getting new chickens. We will use what we've learned from our lovely ladies to do right by our newest family members.
8 birds at one whack? That seems unlikely for one or two four-footed predators. Could some of them have simply fled while one or two were being stolen by a weasel or fisher? Was there blood everywhere? Feathers? There should be signs of a real struggle if more than one predator got into the coop.
ReplyDeleteNo feathers, no blood, nothing. I should mention that the birds were only about 1 month old, so they could easily have picked up more than one at a time. It is definitely possible that some could have fled, but the hole in the coop was so small, it seems unlikely to me that they found it when stressed. The hole was about the size of the palm of your hand.
DeleteI'm so sorry about your ladies. That is so sad for you (and the chickens) regardless of how it happened. It is perplexing with a hole that small and no evidence of anything fishy.
ReplyDeleteHey ladies,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, you girls are working so hard! I think it was a weasel, last year 7 of our chicks got taken away during the night through a ONE inch gap in the fence... 7! I read a lot about predators after that incident, and weasels will come back again and again until they have taken all your birds. Chickens are a lot of work :) We now have double lined chicken wire all around the coop, dug into the ground and we haven't had an incident all year. Be well, V