Finally met my predator match. Need help.

[Molpet]

That is scary, I guess I better be ready to catch something like that. If i dont have a live chipmunk, what do you recommend as bait?

If you're near a pet store that sells live feeder rats, I would think that would work. FYI the rat/chipmunk will be killed

This is the trap I have, but any rat repeating trap should work.
https://www.strombergschickens.com/...3zkmgTLQjNtkzKY4fsHdPft-_Y1JT3-RoCfYUQAvD_BwE

 

[TOR]

Mink weasel go thru the fence. Something climbed over the fence, 5 foot. Alot of heads missing. Racoon and weasel family will both take heads. I dont think a mink or weasel could climb the fence with a bird. ( But maybe a adult mink could?)Possum has cat food so it will not care about your chickens unless maybe there was another adult possum that could climb.( as mentioned Possum start at the rear of the bird) A mink or weasel is not going to drag a bird thru the fence, that is 2 by 4 I believe.
If there is little bite marks around head neck area, weasel family.
Ill go with raccoon.
Something had to carry that bird out over the fence, big fat raccon would.
Just my guess.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[SamLockwood]

Predators can squeeze through surprisingly small gaps: basically if they can fit their skull through they can drag the rest of themselves through it.

For a raccoon or opossum this is a 2" to 3" gap, for rats, weasels, and minks it's as small as 1".

All of them will kill chickens.

Even when they can't get in, if there's even a 1" gap raccoons and raptors will reach through the wire, kill the chicken, and rip pieces of it off and eat them.

If your coop is old or your doors just aren't that strong, predators can pry the boards apart enough to get in and out. Any board or door you can pry open with your fingertips they can use as an entry point, and remember it only has to be a couple inches for them to get in.

Doors need to be stiff enough and tightly mounted enough that little raccoon or opossum hands can't get in there and pry them open to make a gap.

You've also made a classic mistake of leaving food out for the critters, and while I'm sure they appreciate the free cat food sooner or later they're going to try for all that fresh meat on the other side of the chicken wire.

Likely what you have is a variety of animals that are working in tandem. One or more is doing the killing, and the scavengers are coming in later and cleaning up.

First thing is stop leaving cat food, make your garbage cans secure, etc. All you're doing is training the local wildlife that your home is a fast-food joint for them.

Second, check over your coop & run for any possible entry points that may have developed over they years due to rotting wood or persistent efforts of predators. Replace anything that looks pitted, rotted, or structurally unsound.

Third, you really don't want any gaps to the outside world more than 1/2" wide in your coop & run. Get a bunch of hardware cloth and think about re-hanging or replacing doors, coop vents, etc.

Fourth, get some trail cameras and set them up looking at your coop & run, likely entry points to your yard, and somewhere between that creek and your house. You may be surprised at what's lurking around your property and eating that cat food.

Fifth, get ready to "thin the herd." Part of your problem is likely that the local predator population has increased, especially with all the free food you've been giving them. For me one year it was raccoons, this year it was opossums & migratory birds of prey. In the case of the opossums they got so numerous they were going after my birds in broad daylight.

 

[Krugerrand]

I vote for owl if there's a way for them to get in. I also vote for a trail camera. They aren't crazy expensive and it helps to know who the enemy is.

 

[TOR]

So curious figure what it was?

 

[StinkyAcres]

I can get more pics, but here’s one I already have:

Am I seeing chicken wire over welded wire? That will not stop a weasel or even a determined racoon. 1/2" hardware cloth is the way to go, especially if the chickens sleep outside.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Am I seeing chicken wire over welded wire? That will not stop a weasel or even a determined racoon. 1/2" hardware cloth is the way to go, especially if the chickens sleep outside.

That is true. Raccoons will reach through the wire and rip the heads off of chickens

 

[Dennisusa1]

Red tail hawks or birds of prey. They can get thru hog fence. They will strip the neck and head first. Then if time permits they will go for the body.

 

[Vicker]

Possums absolutely kill chickens. I've had 2 attacks where they stripped the necks and removed a head. I saw them in action.

 

[Swait Farms]

Hello chicken friends. This is a long story with lots of details, but I’m hoping someone can help me crack this case.
I’ve been keeping chickens for 11 yrs. In the beginning, I lost a few to racoons. But then we built Fort Knox. The yard has skirted hardware cloth, a coup in the middle they roost in. Off and on through the years they will roost in an exterior spot in a corner so we wrapped that in hardware cloth too. It has a roof, the rest is wrapped in hog wire. I know things could get in hog wire, but we’ve never had an issue since everywhere they sleep is safe. My biggest issue until now is how long my chickens live past their egg laying days. I have an 11 year old hen, my old rooster just died at 10 1/2 over the winter.
No problems until now. A couple of weeks ago we lost a hen overnight while she was inside the coop. Something ate her neck and crop. We we confused but thought maybe she was killed just before they were locked in for the night and we somehow didn’t notice. For the next week, we locked all the chickens up at night and then relaxed again. Then last week, somehow a chicken didn’t go in the coop one night and we didn’t realize it. The next early morning our dog woke us up, we ran out there to find a dead chicken. Went in to get coffee and when we went back out, whatever killed her had remained close and it took her body. It had to climb over our 5 foot fence to get her and to take her.
So I set our trap. First night I caught a feral looking cat. Second night I caught a possum. I know people say possums will kill, but we always have possums and we’ve never had a problem. The one I caught looked very much like the one that comes to our front porch to dine on cat food every night. Very young, I’d guess weighs 4 lbs. eating cat food and chicken feed is the only trouble we’ve ever had out of possums.
We had to be gone one night over Easter, so I did not set my trap. We got home late last night and when I woke up, I looked out and saw feathers everywhere. Since we were gone, I KNOW that the chickens were safe in their enclosure when I left them, no mistakes on our part.
When I got out there, there were FOUR dead chickens. In fact, 4 of my best 1 year old hens, the best layers. The rooster, also a year old, is alive but bloody, all the dead hens are missing their heads.
The dead hens are amberlinks, so light in color. The old chickens that survived, a brown (11 yr old Americana), a black (8 yr old black australorp), and a light polish mix (at least 6 yrs), and one amberlink hen.
So #1, it is something that can fit through Hogwire. #2 it only took the heads. #3 it appeared to go after lighter feathers, so maybe could see them better?
I know possums can kill, but I have a hard time believing this young possum who is well fed on cat food would do this. Our yard backs up to a small patch of woods in central Kentucky. We know we have racoons, but have never had issues with them since building Fort Knox. We’ve seen a Fox out there lately, there is no way he got into the coup. What else could it be?

Oh even the tiniest baby possum will rip a chickens head off easy. That is where they strike first and I had a baby possum get into one of our coops and I felt bad we had to put it down it was very young and small, but it was determined to keep killing one after the next even after lights went on and us standing there yelling at it. Everything eats chicken.