What did it?

[Luke 13V34]

Okay, so I lost some chickens. There are no bodies, very little feathers lost, but there was a small trail into my neighbor's overgrown yard. My dog found and killed a 'possum near the trail, but I am still not convinced. There were piles of feathers nearly 100 yards from the coop, and I could not find the bodies, although I heard flies buzzing, so I assumed that was pretty much all that was left was piles of feathers.

Raccoons tend to eat the head and neck and everything else seems to make a big mess, so what the heck took 9 bantam chickens in two nights (You'll hate me, but I wasn't home for two days so I couldn't lock them in the house for two nights).

The 'possum is dead, but I am setting a live trap tonight regardless. From what I read, this doesn't sound like 'possum work unless maybe there is a family, but why take the bodies so far away, and consume the entire thing?

There are lots of coyotes in the area, but they wouldn't be able to get into the coop even if the door is open, but maybe they consumed the remains? Didn't see any evidence to support that, just confused.

Thanks

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry to hear that Don't worry, I know you are blaming yourself for what happened, but these things happen. Don't beat yourself up about it.

We just trapped and released a skunk that has been on our property for over a year and eats the eggs and chicken food. It never touched the chickens, however, and neither did the opossums we had. However, we did have a stray cat who would take whole chickens and chicks and just vanish with them. I hear this is pretty common with cats. They often leave the wings and feathers, sometimes the legs also, and eat the rest.
Do you have bobcats in the area?

 

[Luke 13V34]

You never really know what's out here. We had reports of a black panther a few years ago lol. I've seen Bobcats in nearby areas, so that's a possibility, and one I think would be pretty cool actually. I'd be honored to feed a bobcat.

 

[GitaBooks]

Bobcats are awesome! However, I'm glad we don't have any around us, because they would go after our barn cats.

 

[enola]

People around here claim there are no bears in our area. I have not seen one either. But someone hit a 250 pound bear about 2 miles from my house with a truck in June. A DNR officer confirmed the weight.

So now I know we have bears, hawks, ravens, possums, coons, coyotes, foxes, coy dogs, neighbor dogs and cats on the predator list around here. AND if I don't keep a lock on the door, I have neighbors that steal my eggs!

 

[GitaBooks]

People around here claim there are no bears in our area. I have not seen one either. But someone hit a 250 pound bear about 2 miles from my house with a truck in June. A DNR officer confirmed the weight.

Yikes! I'm glad we don't have bears around here either. I think all animals are cool, especially carnivores, but some how I don't think I would feel safe going out at night to put the chickens away with bears, wolves, and cougars stalking around.

 

[Luke 13V34]

Yikes! I'm glad we don't have bears around here either. I think all animals are cool, especially carnivores, but some how I don't think I would feel safe going out at night to put the chickens away with bears, wolves, and cougars stalking around.

Me neither! There are already a ton of coyotes that make me nervous even though it is highly unlikely they would attack me. The flock is certainly less entertaining, but what can I do. I was thinking of adding more birds, but they are all so healthy otherwise that I don't want to risk it. I will hope the females are not stressed by the high male to female ratio, and that they can have some babies in the spring to bring the numbers up. It's harder on the pheasants now, they were friends with the outcast chickens that got eaten, so now they are chased away from the flock! It's always sad when something eats your pets...