Julianna Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Horrible mystery in the hen house tonight. My partner returned home mid evening to find two of our girls with very serious trauma to their feet. No obvious intruder into their quarters so we think they must have done it to each other, or the other two have inflicted the trauma. There's no sign of blood though. Really very strange. They are eating and drinking and quiet, but can't walk or stand. Don't think the vet will be able to do anything. We've removed them from the other. Has anyone else come across this? There's never been anything like this before in their group, although the 'top hen' died a month ago so a new pecking order was being established. Very sad and a mystery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Hm, that doesn't sound like an attack, if there's no blood; I guess without seeing the feet it's hard to tell, but I would be thinking either bumble foot or scaly leg for starters, or at the very worst Mareks which is very contagious (if one hen had it, it probably gave it to the other one). Definitely vet time, essentially, but others on forum may have more advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Can you give us a bit more info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 What do you mean by 'trauma to their feet' Julianna? Have they just gone off their legs? In which case I would think Mareks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I was about to ask the same question beantree, bumblefoot is a fairly obvious swelling and for two girls to get it simultaneously would be quite a coincidence. And as far as I'm aware, scaly leg mites would be uncomfortable and in extreme cases they would not want to walk about but to both go down at the same time??? Not likely? My thoughts would be mareks too I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickabee Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I had one with Mareks. She lost the ability to walk quite suddenly. Unfortunately she was PTS. You will need to do lots of cleaning and disinfecting if it is. Also I would give the other girls some kind of tonic. What breed are your poorly girls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianna Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Sorry to report both girls RIP. Grim detail - their feet were missing, so they just had stumps left. Vet thinks either they attacked each other or they were attacked by rats. I find either option unlikely. They've never fought before, and there were no feathers in the pen so no sign of a fight. I can't imagine they'd just stand still and let themselves be attacked by a rat either, unless it was at night. We're devastated by such a traumatic ending and just can't imagine how it happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkysmum Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Julianna, I cant tell you how sorry I am to hear this. I have never heard of something like this happening before. I am sorry that I have nothing usefull to add, I just had to pass on my sympathies. Its not something I would forget in a hurry, but please , if you can try not to dwell on it .Easier said than done I know. Hoping for happier hen days for you. Axx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianna Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Thank you, that's kind. Just so awful to see animals in distress, especially when we don't understand how. The two left look pretty lonely but I guess we'll all adjust. Glad to have had so many happy times with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Rats I think and a really terrible way to go! You must do something to protect them at night Julianna. Isn't the coop secure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I read a while ago about a rat attack on a chicken a night, I think it's pretty rare but they go in to a bit if a hibernative state when asleep so I guess that's how it happens. Poor little girls:(( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 That really is very sad. I am so sorry about what has happened to your girls. I don't know what else to say to make things better, but wanted to send you my love xx It certainly makes you think of rats in a different light - horrible creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSilver Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Good lord that is horrifying! I am so sorry to hear this, I have never heard of that kind of attack before. Very grim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julianna Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Thank you everyone for kind wishes. We don't understand how any intruder got in as it's an Eglu Cube and really secure & undamaged. There's no sign of any access point. We've never had a problem with security in 5 years of having it & there are urban foxes all around us. It's all a v sad mystery & difficult to know what we can learn from it. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Blimey. How horrible for you. Mink have been known to do this sort of damage to chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purplemaniacs Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 So sorry to hear about your poor girls. What an awful shock for you. i think we all do the best for our chooks but occasionally something happens that we would never have predicted so we could not stop. I think you did all you could to protect your girls, so sorry. Chrissie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I agree with you chrissie, "there but for the grace of god" I have a cube within an enclosure and spent a few days last summer covering every single tiny hole with teeny tiny wire after spotting a mouse in the enclosure, but I am fortunate in the fact I already had fence around three sides of the enclosure, the last straw for me which forced me into doing it was seeing a mouse make its way in to the cube!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I'm so sorry to hear about your poor girls, you could not have anticipated something like this happening, it certainly sounds like a freak occurrence so please don't be hard on yourself. I do remember someone posting ages ago about legs being injured when in the cube overnight and it was suggested that an animal could have grabbed them through the long drainage hole in the nest box, it was agreed this was unlikely but does anyone think this could be what happened? Might be worth doing a search through old posts too. I've secured a long piece of thin plastic chopping board over the hole in mine with bolts through it and nuts/washers underneath, I know there are concerns about this providing a home for red mite but I regularly remove it and give it all a good scrub. Perhaps you could try something like this just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 How awful, I'm so sorry . I hope you manage to secure things so whatever it was is deterred from doing something so horrible again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 That's the worry for you, if they got in and you don't know who, how or what then chances are they may be back. Sorry to be a scare munger goodness poor you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimnpaula Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I do remember someone posting ages ago about legs being injured when in the cube overnight and it was suggested that an animal could have grabbed them through the long drainage hole in the nest box, it was agreed this was unlikely but does anyone think this could be what happened? Might be worth doing a search through old posts too. Yes, I vaguely remember reading that post. Perhaps it was this one? I thought that the affected hens were broody though so there may be another similar one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueChick Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Hi - just read your post - so sorry to hear your sad news. We had a rat attack a couple of years ago but the ladies literally burst the Eglu door open and ran out screaming at 4 in the morning! Turned out the rat had gnawed at the drainage hole in the egg laying bit of the Eglu and made the hole large enough to poke his head through and try and bite my girls. We also discovered tunnels under the run too (when they were on the grass so now they are on concrete with sawdust to scratch in). We screwed a piece of metal grating over the drainage hole to stop it ever happening again. I posted this information when it happened and other people had had the same horrible thing happen to their chooks as you have experienced. I hope this helps a little and so sorry for your tragic news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Just wanted to say I'm so very sorry to read about your chooks, Julianna How traumatic and horrific for both you and them. As has been said already, "there but for the grace of God", it really could have been any of us on here. I'm also pretty sure I've read about this happening before, and the consensus of opinion was some sort of weasel type animal. Give those two remaining girls lots of extra chicken hugs. Take care xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcountrygirl Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 So sorry to hear about this. Your poor girls. The worst part is not knowing what did it and how it happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 This is so upsetting, what a terrible thing to have happened. Poor girls and poor you I've never personally experienced anything like it but I know keepers who have had mink attacks which are devastating and I'd be more inclined to think mink (or similar) than rats. In my experience rats will spend a lot of time eating spilt food and generally making a nuisance of themselves digging tunnels and looking vile rather than biting feet off chickens, although anything's possible of course, and they do have collapsible skeletons to get into tiny places. Whatever it was I think you do need to up the security, I know the cube shouldn't need it, but obviously something terrible has happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
