Bluebubbles Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Hi Everyone, So out of my first year of chicken keeping this week is turning out to be the toughest. We lost Bluebell on Monday, and today I came home from work to a pile of feathers in the garden and my girls hiding in the coop. I think that the wild bird may have been killed by a car (we live in a semi-urban area and lots of people have let cats). I have no idea what a can do to deter them. I'm even thinking that something has been stalking around the coop and the fear may have brought on Blueys egg peretinitis. They have an enclosed run and only free range supervised, we have also fitted a sliding bolt on the coop door and lock them in at night so I don't know what else I can do to protect them. It's been a tough few days of chicken keeping for us and now I have 2 scared girls that have only come out into the run 2 times in 2 hours - they are usually out all the time. I'm not sure if it's fear, greif or a mixture of the 2. All I want to do is keep them safe and healthy. I feel like I'm failing miserably at the moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Were the feathers in a heap, or in a circle? And were they broken, or intact? If it's the latter then it's likely to have been killed by a sparrowhawk or another bird of prey. If the former then it's probably a cat or a fox. Either way, it's unlikely to have caused Bluebell's illness. Your hens will soon forget about it and go back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
