Dead chickens

[Romoshka]

Sorry for this long post but hopefully the details will help with diagnosis. I have 3 houses and 2 tractors: 1 tractor has 23 pullets the other has a single roo, a lil house w/3 hens & caged run. 2 bigger houses with caged runs both covered to prevent aerial assaults but there are areas up high where a climber could squeeze in. 13hens, 1 roo & 18 6 week old chicks in 1 and 25 hens & 1 roo in the other. Im ouuta town and father-in-law is minding the farm. Yesterday evening all was well. Tonight the 3 hens are dead, the 13 hens/1roo and 5 of the 18 chicks are dead. Birds in tractors are all ok. There is other damage too. The house with 25hens/1roo are all fine but the water supply line is pulled off. The house with 3 hens has the water supply line broken off the reservoir. The house with 13/1/5 dead has the water system intact. Father-in-law says birds show no signs of trauma and are all intact but there is a bunch of feathers all about the run and the house. Is there a predator that would kill for sport? Called a buddy who is a commercial broiler inspector and he says he cant think of a virus/illness that would kill that quickly. He suspected sabotage. Eggs were collected yesterday about 1700 and there were eggs in both houses where the dead birds lived so indications are this happened during the day today. Im sick about this and am looking for any input from more experienced folks. This is only my 3rd year with chickens.

 

[chixmaidservice]

My money is on Raccoons. They will certainly kill for sport, can climb a wooden garage wall straight up w/ no hesitation and cling to the roof, and will certainly dismantle your water so they can wash up after the carnage. Sorry for your loss. Check w/ your local humane officer as you may be able to live trap the murderers and have animal control remove and dispose of them. I used this method to help reduce my population of coons.

 

[iwiw60]

I agree...sounds like raccoons have invaded your property for sure. If you could put up a trail cam you just might catch the scumbags on film so you know how many you are dealing with. My solution for the problem?

S - S - S

Shoot - Shovel - Shut Up

 

[gander007]

I have to agree with iwiw60, on this one for sure a Game cam will catch a lot of action and you will be able to deal with the situation how ever you see fit ..



At-least this Predator took only one at a time .......










gander007

 

[Romoshka]

Update: perhaps I was not clear in my original post. There were dead chickens in 2 enclosures but no evidence of injury and no missing birds. I was out of town and father-in-law was relaying the information to me. Upon return home today it is apparent that the most likely explanation was predator attempting to enter but was unable and either the chickens were scared to death or killed themselves as they slammed into the chain link fence enclosed run. They were all dead along the fence inside the run. These were my oldest birds and in the autumn of their laying career. I have ordered dog-proof raccoon traps, game cams and a solar powered hot fence. Now I have had bobcats get into my rabbits, seen coyotes in my back pasture, and know there are raccoons about. So which is the most likely culprit. Also the evidence suggests that the event occurred during daylight hours: the carnage was discovered about 1700, there were eggs in the nest boxes of both houses where the dead chickens were, eggs were collected at 1700 the prior day, those birds were always done laying by 1530/1600 so the eggs were laid before the 'death event'. Since coyotes, raccoons and bobcats are generally nocturnal animals ... Rabid animal? Stray dog?

 

[bobbi-j]

Chain link fence? My bet would be weasel. They will kill and leave very little damage. I had one wipe out a dozen young birds in one shot. The only mark I saw on any of them were little fang-like marks on the neck or under the wing.

 

[gander007]

Did you find any track indicting type of animal ....

I use extra roosters in a separate cage to a trap cage and have never lost a rooster yet but I do find your story interesting ....

 

[subhanalah]

Raccoons will pull the birds through the wire, so if they weren't pulled through, maybe not them.

The feathers and massive carnage with little actual damage to the birds, I'd say weasel.

 

[gander007]

a weasel well yes it will drain the body fluids from it's victims ya I can see that and they will kill just for the fun with no intent of eating anything ...

 

[Romoshka]

By the time I got home 2 days of light constant rain had fallen so the ground was soft and my free range guniea tracks were all that was visable. The chain link fence run has a 12" high strip of chicken wire fastened to the inside of the run placed to block chicks from squirting out. There is deformation of the wire inward as if a hand/paw passes through the chainlink but was stopped by the chicken wire. I had paw-in-law bag 2 of the birds and put em in the frig and ill inspect them a bit this am.