Carl Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Hi We recently bought some chickens. They have been locked up in the chicken coop till today when let them out. We have 4 or had we only have 3 now, about tea time one of them was killed near the chicken coop we had noticed a couple of crows flying round and hanging around the field that they were roaming in but I didn't know they were a threat to chickens till reading after. I'm guessing it was a crow but not 100% would a crow kill a chicken it was about 10 weeks old it didn't touch the other chickens but there slightly bigger in size. Is there anything anyone could suggest to protect or are they to small to be out in the open should I have them in a run. This is the first time we've owned chickens. Also seen a magpie near the coop. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Sorry to hear you already lost an hen. They are definitely very young to be out. You should keep them in a run for at least a couple of weeks. And also adult chickens are prey to large birds and of course foxes. So best to only free range under supervision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 12 hours ago, Cat tails said: Sorry to hear you already lost an hen. They are definitely very young to be out. You should keep them in a run for at least a couple of weeks. And also adult chickens are prey to large birds and of course foxes. So best to only free range under supervision. Agreed - I would keep them in the run for at least a couple more weeks. It is unusual for a crow to take a bird, they usually prefer carrion, but they might take a youngster, and the definitely take eggs. Could it have been a sparrow hawk... was there a pile of feathers but no carcass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Sorry to hear about your girl - what a nasty shock. Whereabouts do you live? Do you know if there is a population of raptors nearby? We live on the edge of The Chilterns and have a large population of Red Kites.....always made me nervous when our girls were out ruining our shrubs! Could it be a cat, do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 I'm sorry to read that you lost a chicken, possibly to a crow. We had some very territorial crows in a tree next door once, that would dive bomb the neighbours next to that if they got too close to the tree. Magpies too can be quite nasty. I imagine they saw the little one as an easy meal and took advantage of it. In fact, where I got my girls from before, the lady said the crows would often attack her chicks. I hope the remaining ones stay safe xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
