Losing lots of chickens to some unknown predator

[Spartan22]

Terrible, hope you get some answers - your cam,is it a night cam!

 

[the poppster]

From the price and what you've said....I'd guess it's a Raccoon.

 

[hayley3]

Normally with a fox you find feathers near the fence where they took the birds out. Sometimes a possum will take advantage of a leftover and you think the possum did it but no they just came along and found the free dinner so in essence they ruin the crime scene. In my case the fox went into a frenzy and killed 6 chickens at one time and before he could get back the possum had found the bodies.

 

[the poppster]

I'm guessing it's a Raccoon....because of the poo...the missing parts of the bird....the fact that it returns....and the info about the predator trying to pull the bird through the fence...raccoons will reach thru the wire and pull what ever part thru....a Fox wouldn't be capable of reaching in and grabbing the bird....unless the fence had large enough openings for it to stick it's head thru...or the victim was cooperating and stuck it's head or leg out the wire for the Fox....raccoons also will go for the best parts first and eat their I'll gotten meal right where they find it...unless disturbed....they are messy...leaving bits and pieces laying about...they will even wash pieces and their paws in any available water dish....so you may find feathers, bits of flesh and blood in the birds water dish...if it's accessible...

 

[the poppster]

Do your birds just roost in the barn? And you are trying to fence in the whole thing? If that's what you are doing it's going to be almost impossible to make it completely predator proof...why not build a secure solid walled coop for your birds within the barn...with 1/2 inch hardware cloth over any openings....so when the birds go to roost...they can be closed in and safe from any of the usual suspects at night anyway....unless the creature can chew through a 1/2 inch of solid wood or wire....that's what I would do if I had a barn....and it was so far from my house. Good luck...hope you can make you flock safe...it's frustrating and upsetting to loose birds over and over again....I lost my first flock to a rampaging Black Bear...it tore a hole in the pen, Big enough to walk thru...I not only lost most of my chickens, but my ducks and my guard Goose...it also managed to squeeze thru the pop door and tear up the inside of the coop...sad day.

 

[costello]

Quote:

Yes, it's infrared. I've placed it at different places, day and night - sometimes on video, sometimes on still photos. So far I've just caught photos of my dog. At least I know he's a presence there all night long.

 

[costello]

I was starting to think I'd had more than one predator, both a fox and a raccoon, but the comments above have me leaning toward raccoon. You're right about pulling it through the fence. That definitely sounds like something you'd need a "hand" for. I googled for images of raccoon feces, and it definitely looks like what I'm seeing.

I know my trap will catch raccoons, because I accidentally caught one when trying to catch a feral cat. I may just set it up in the barn and see if I can get it.

 

[costello]

Do your birds just roost in the barn? And you are trying to fence in the whole thing? If that's what you are doing it's going to be almost impossible to make it completely predator proof...why not build a secure solid walled coop for your birds within the barn...with 1/2 inch hardware cloth over any openings....so when the birds go to roost...they can be closed in and safe from any of the usual suspects at night anyway....unless the creature can chew through a 1/2 inch of solid wood or wire....that's what I would do if I had a barn....and it was so far from my house. Good luck...hope you can make you flock safe...it's frustrating and upsetting to loose birds over and over again....I lost my first flock to a rampaging Black Bear...it tore a hole in the pen, Big enough to walk thru...I not only lost most of my chickens, but my ducks and my guard Goose...it also managed to squeeze thru the pop door and tear up the inside of the coop...sad day.

Yes, they roost in the barn and in the trees outside it, and the fence goes all the way around. I'm amazed at how hard it is to secure. Until August I was living on a lot at a lake. I had this same fence, and the chickens virtually lived outside. I had one of those cheapo urban coops from the farm store set up under my deck. They roosted on top of it or in trees. I lost not one chicken to predators after putting that fence up.

Unfortunately I have virtually no carpentry skills. I'm going to have to learn, I know, but in the mean time I'm losing birds so fast I may not need a coop anymore. :'(

 

[the poppster]

I don't know what the weather is like where you live...but if you still plan on keeping chickens...you might look for one of those prefabricated garden tool sheds...it would be pretty easy to convert it to a nice cozy coop....minimal carpentry skills needed...some roosts...a few of those plastic storage boxes...up on some cinder blocks...and laid on their side...and secured together for nest boxes...then you put your fence up...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I'm guessing it's a Raccoon....because of the poo...the missing parts of the bird....the fact that it returns....and the info about the predator trying to pull the bird through the fence...raccoons will reach thru the wire and pull what ever part thru....a Fox wouldn't be capable of reaching in and grabbing the bird....unless the fence had large enough openings for it to stick it's head thru...or the victim was cooperating and stuck it's head or leg out the wire for the Fox....raccoons also will go for the best parts first and eat their I'll gotten meal right where they find it...unless disturbed....they are messy...leaving bits and pieces laying about...they will even wash pieces and their paws in any available water dish....so you may find feathers, bits of flesh and blood in the birds water dish...if it's accessible...

A bobcat is fully capable of sticking a fore paw through a fence and hooking a panicked chicken with its re-tractable claws then pulling the doomed chicken up to or partially through the wire where it eats the part or parts of the chicken that it can get to with its mouth.

Raccoons usually go in a coon latrine. Coon latrines are normally found in hollow trees, or else in attics and under homes, and one latrine may be used by every coon in your area.