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AMELIAdetonated · Jul 9, 2013

Backround of my neighborhood - it's pretty crappy, ghetto, lots of bad kids and crazy people - but no one but the kids has ever bothered my chickens. And I wouldn't think the kids would go so far as to kill them. We don't have any real animal pests - I live in central, gulf-side Florida so we have racoons, possums, cats galore, and some loose pit bulls. My chickens free range inside my chain link and occasionally go out in my yard during the day, but they don't leave my property. A week and a half ago, I found a pile of feathers near one side of the fence and a broken-neck hen near the road, right in front of my property. This morning, I found another broken-neck hen in front of my car where I park, right in the walkway to my chain link gate where my other chickens reside.
No blood, claw marks, or anything on either bird, just signs of struggle (loss of feathers) and a broken neck. I don't know what to do, other than build them some kind of house.
Any idea what this predator could be?

farmin4fun · Jul 9, 2013

Most predators such as the ones you described are active at night, and almost always eat what they catch. In fact I just lost 2 last night to what I believe is a raccoon. I'll have to take care of this problem tonight.

I've often found that dogs will "play" with a chicken and kill them, not intending to eat them as they are already well fed, which I wonder if that is the case for you since yours were not eaten. Often a broken neck is the outcome as the head sticks out creating a convenient handle for the dog to grab on to. Are you able to tell if the chicken has any other broken bones, such as a broken ribs, legs or wing? Dogs will frequently break several bones when "playing". There is usually tissue scarring/damage as well, but this is not always as easy to identify. This will take a lot of handling of the dead bird. I hope this doesn't make you too uncomfortable.

That being said I would still take immediate steps to make them a secure place to roost at night. Chickens have very poor night vision so they are extremely vulnerable at night. I only lock mine up when I have a predator on the loose, and only at night even then. Predators will keep coming back almost every night until there is nothing left to get, so you will need to take care of the problem if you don't want to lose all your chickens at the rate of 1 or 2 per night. Also, remember that a fence will not stop most predators. They just climb over it or dig under it. I have a door on my coop that I just close and lock. Nothing bigger than a mouse can get in my coop unless he can chew through half inch plywood.

Assuming this is not a human, I will tell you what I do to catch my predators. I set up a live trap (See the link below) at night outside my locked coop. You need to put some sort of bait in it to lure the predator in. I often use meat scraps from the table. When I wake up in the morning I usually have my predator. Once I catch them, I always shoot and bury my predators since I don't live in town, but you may need to call animal control once you've caught it. I hope this helps with your situation. I wish you the best of luck!!

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/sto...-2?cm_mmc=feed-_-google-_-allproducts-_-value

chfite · Jul 11, 2013

"Any idea what this predator could be? "

Human.

Build them a coop so that they have a safe place at night.

Chris

centrarchid · Jul 11, 2013

Dog could easily do as described. Some just chomp enough to kill, sniff to see if it moves before going on. Sometimes such dogs so not put a lot effort into the chase. It is not always a messy / extremely violent affair.

Unknown predator or human sending a message

More options

AMELIAdetonated

Hatching

farmin4fun

Chirping

chfite

Crowing

centrarchid

Crossing the Road

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