When I went to check on the laying hens yesterday afternoon, I was greeted with this sight:
This is evidence of a chicken attack. There was another little pile of feathers near the edge of the woods. I think it means the initial attack took place here, but she was able to run to the edge of the wood. There, she lost the battle and was carted off into the woods.
The attack took place just outside their electric fence, which means that this particular hen was still able to fly over the top of their enclosure. She was probably trying to figure out a way to get back in the fence when she was struck.
We started out with 32 layers in June 2009, and we’re now down to about 22. It’s amazing how quickly they get picked off by predators. But that’s the life of the chicken for you: they’re at the bottom of the food chain. EVERYTHING eats chicken. For our next batch of layers, we will have to use much tougher love when clipping their wings.
All original content © 2012 by Jessie Knadler
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Then there’s the sights you won’t forget…several years ago had about 100 hens on about 3 acres space (access to 10 but 3 was about as much as they’d use)…1 dog when I was gone to the bank about a half hour. More than feathers. Bodies. Every chicken. 3 big garbage cans full of dead chickens. That’s not counting the ducks lost to owls. “Free range” isn’t without risk for sure. Sorry for your loss.
Jan: That is horrible! I’m so sorry!