Losing lots of chickens to some unknown predator

[costello]

I recently (two months ago) moved my flock of chickens from my home to my mother's. They're in her barn. I have electric netting all the way around the barn. In addition to the fencing I have a Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd mix dog outside at night. The fencing was great at my house. After I put it up, I didn't lose a single bird to predators.

Now I'm losing quite a few, and it seems to be getting worse. I'd estimate I've lost ten birds since I moved, with the numbers increasing recently. That includes two rooster - my head rooster who was 2 1/2 years old and a youngster of about 6 months.

I lost an old white Plymouth Rock two days ago (the same day the younger rooster disappeared). I can see the spot she was killed just inside the door to the barn.

I'm not sure what time of day I'm losing them, but I think it's night time. Twice I've heard a racket at about 9 pm and went to investigate but found nothing.

Whatever it is is undetered by the fence and takes the bodies away with it. Twice I've found the poles where the two ends of the fence meet pushed apart in a V - like something had come in that way. I've fixed that, and the killings continue.

The chickens are seeking higher roosting spots in the barn. I don't know if they sense something is prowling around at night?

I may get that camera someone recommended in another thread.

 

[JackE]

Have you checked the voltage on your netting? Maybe the charger is crapping out. Is the fence (netting) properly grounded? Sounds like you have nothing, or next to nothing for voltage. If the fence has proper voltage, nothing will just push through, they get zapped, and they are gone. The poles, where two fences meet, should be tied together, then nothing will shove through, but if the fence is properly charged, nothing should be shoving through anyway. I'd get the fence straightened out, before I wasted any money on a game camera, just to watch my birds get killed.

 

[the poppster]

I just came back from the barn. There were three opossums in there. I don't know if I should cry or scream.


On a happier note, I counted 32 chickens this evening. I still don't see my Buckeye. I looked at all 32 pretty closely, and she's not one of them.

I really feel sorry for you and your slowly dwindling flock. It might just be me...but if I went into my barn and found one or two opossum hanging out waiting for a chicken dinner....I'm afraid I'd see red! Pull on the thickest pair of leather gloves, a heavy jacket and good stomping boots, Get an ax..or a stout bat...maybe a pole with a sharp knife duct taped to the end and go on a killing spree....they don't enter a live trap, not because they are so smart about it. Why should they if there's plenty of food available outside it...Maybe rehome the remaining flock members to a place where they are safe from night and day predators...at least till you can afford to give them a secure home. I am perplexed by your continued requests for advice on how to protect your flock....only to have that advice sidelined for one reason or another....as you keep all informed of your daily losses...I'm sorry...I just don't understand.

 

[Ameraucanas]

Yes, I would get a camera. It sounds like it could be a weasel.

 

[new user]

Where did you get your cam? That was a steal price. I'd been wanting to have one that will do night/day color cam but price prohibit me from doing so.

I got them off of Ebay back in late August I think. They are the older Wildgame Innovation game cams but they work

 

[WthrLady]

Is there an owl living IN the barn? Or raccoon IN the barn?

 

[Ryannjnc]

Sure sounds a lot like a fox from your description of the kills. Raccoons tend to be messy. First ones never enough so they either take away the kill (drag) or eat it there then go for the next and leave a big mess. A camera ain't going to stop your problem. Set up a medium size animal trap by the entrance. My money's on a fox

 

[enola]

You can water the ground around your ground rod.

 

[centrarchid]

My setup has so dog freely operates outside poultry perimeter. The poultry perimeter has a gate that is kept fully open when I am present to prevent dog from going after chickens. As dog broken of molesting chickens which is partly a maturation process usually finished around time dog two years old, I then setup so gate is setup so dog must jump it to get into chicken area. Initially jump for dog very low but over time I raise. Once jump exceeds 30 inches of so dogs do not do it unless very strongly motivated but can clear 48" fence just like a coyote. The dog has time to learn and will not be afraid of being cornered or caught blindsided once getting past fence like a coyote would thus coyote much less likely to use same approach for getting in. Not all dogs have the jumping ability needed, especially heavy dogs / small dogs that do not develop skill when young. Harder part is getting your dog to know when it is time to go all out and jump fence to deal with bad guys that do get in like I have presented by Great-horned Owls. I also use a lower output charger during training phase so dogs does not think learning effort too unpleasant to continue.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Costello, if i may....it's most likely it is a racoon and possibly 2 or 3! If it was a mink or weasel it would just eat the head...usually, the brain has the highest and best tasting fat content, at least to a,weasel. This past spring/summer i lost 12 young pheasants that were in my outdoor brooders. They were covered with 1inch chicken wire. At first i thought it was a weasel but there was nothing left not even feathers. So i put 1/2 inch hardware cloth around the bottom 8" of the brooders....still lost birds. They were strong enough to pull it down far enough to reach in and get to my birds.After this, i set steel traps...first night caught 3 coons. Set them again, a week later and caught 2 more. I haven't had anymore predation. If you can set some steel traps so that your dog can't get caught you might have a chance of catching the rascals. Of course you also risk catching house cats and any other animal that walks into the traps. If you use the live trap, bait it with a can of cat food....coons can't resist it. Also, make a funnel to the trap...it will act as a channel to the trap.
Hope this helps....i know what it's like to lose birds and can't figure it out.

Get some Duke DP traps. The DP stands for Dog Proof and Duke is the company name. These traps are coon catchers.