Okay, my husband and I have had chickens for about a year now. And although we are in NO way experts, I would say that we have come along way and could hold a pretty substantial conversation with the best of them. We had about 30 chickens up until June. We have had all different types of breeds. We downsized recently because of a new baby and just didn't have the time for all 30 of them. We kept our barred rock rooster and three tetra tint hens which are housed in our HUGE pen and LARGE coop with 6 nesting boxes. We've had them since they were hatched. We also have our Silver Duckwing Bantam pair that just hatched 5 chicks of their own. (<3 them) Anyway, they are all pets to us and they all have names.
In our time of owning, we have had ONE experience with a predator where something was KILLED. In March, we went out in the morning to feed and water and collect eggs to find that our bantam rooster, Monte had been killed/taken. He was in our chicken tractor that we built. After looking at the pen, we noticed that the chicken wire had been pulled from the frame of the pen on ALL four sides and that's, undoubtedly, how whatever it was got in the pen and got him. There were feathers EVERYWHERE. After being sad, we moved on to feed our two rabbits (my daughters birthday gifts) and found the pen turned completely over on its side and both rabbits were gone. All that was left was fur. This pen sat about 4ft off the ground and stood about 6ft tall all together. We noticed that the rabbit wire had been pulled/bitten from the bottom and the back of the pen (the side that was against the wall before flipped on its side) rabbit wire was completely ripped off. We do have coyotes VERY close to our home. A cow pasture is what lines the back of our 3 acres. We just chalked it up as that, a pack of coyotes.
Now, Friday morning, my husband was leaving for work (around 7am). He was walking out to his truck and one of our hens (Reba) ran right up to him. He went into a panic and ran out to the chicken pen. Although ALL 4 of the chickens seemed okay physically, one of our hens (Daisy) had a scratched up face and they all seemed on edge. After looking at the coop, we noticed feathers EVERYWHERE. We fed and watered them while also walking the entire pen inside and out for any sign of something getting in. We didn't see anything. We didn't have any choice but to go about our business.
Friday evening, my husband and I were gone ALL evening. We didn't get home until dark. We went out and checked on them as we were unloading the car. It was about 9:45pm and they were fine. We were heading to bed around 12:30am and my husband said he was going to check one more time. He calls me in a clear panic and said two of the hens were gone and that the last hen was under the coop and our rooster Luke was passing the back side of the pen with all his feather fluffed with blood all over his comb and neck (none of it was his). I went outside and we saw feathers EVERYWHERE. Out of the coop, down the coop ramp, in a diagonal pattern across the pen to the back left corner. Once Luke saw my husband, he completely relaxed. We moved him and the third hen. We searched for any signs of the other two hens and the chalked it up as whatever it was was successful this time and killed them.
We went back inside, did some research and came to the conclusion that there was no way possible that a pack of coyotes did this without some sort of tracks or sign of them being there (it had rained that day and was muddy). We decided it had to be a fox and went to bed.
Saturday morning (this morning), we went outside to asses the pen and coop in the daylight. We heard clucking and looked up and to our much welcoming surprise, our other two hens were in the tree and flew right down to us. They were both fine.
So, my question is, what kind of fox attacks the same coop twice in one day but doesn't get a kill? And if it's not a fox, what the heck is it? How do we stop it? How do we protect our chickens?
HELP US!
In our time of owning, we have had ONE experience with a predator where something was KILLED. In March, we went out in the morning to feed and water and collect eggs to find that our bantam rooster, Monte had been killed/taken. He was in our chicken tractor that we built. After looking at the pen, we noticed that the chicken wire had been pulled from the frame of the pen on ALL four sides and that's, undoubtedly, how whatever it was got in the pen and got him. There were feathers EVERYWHERE. After being sad, we moved on to feed our two rabbits (my daughters birthday gifts) and found the pen turned completely over on its side and both rabbits were gone. All that was left was fur. This pen sat about 4ft off the ground and stood about 6ft tall all together. We noticed that the rabbit wire had been pulled/bitten from the bottom and the back of the pen (the side that was against the wall before flipped on its side) rabbit wire was completely ripped off. We do have coyotes VERY close to our home. A cow pasture is what lines the back of our 3 acres. We just chalked it up as that, a pack of coyotes.
Now, Friday morning, my husband was leaving for work (around 7am). He was walking out to his truck and one of our hens (Reba) ran right up to him. He went into a panic and ran out to the chicken pen. Although ALL 4 of the chickens seemed okay physically, one of our hens (Daisy) had a scratched up face and they all seemed on edge. After looking at the coop, we noticed feathers EVERYWHERE. We fed and watered them while also walking the entire pen inside and out for any sign of something getting in. We didn't see anything. We didn't have any choice but to go about our business.
Friday evening, my husband and I were gone ALL evening. We didn't get home until dark. We went out and checked on them as we were unloading the car. It was about 9:45pm and they were fine. We were heading to bed around 12:30am and my husband said he was going to check one more time. He calls me in a clear panic and said two of the hens were gone and that the last hen was under the coop and our rooster Luke was passing the back side of the pen with all his feather fluffed with blood all over his comb and neck (none of it was his). I went outside and we saw feathers EVERYWHERE. Out of the coop, down the coop ramp, in a diagonal pattern across the pen to the back left corner. Once Luke saw my husband, he completely relaxed. We moved him and the third hen. We searched for any signs of the other two hens and the chalked it up as whatever it was was successful this time and killed them.
We went back inside, did some research and came to the conclusion that there was no way possible that a pack of coyotes did this without some sort of tracks or sign of them being there (it had rained that day and was muddy). We decided it had to be a fox and went to bed.
Saturday morning (this morning), we went outside to asses the pen and coop in the daylight. We heard clucking and looked up and to our much welcoming surprise, our other two hens were in the tree and flew right down to us. They were both fine.
So, my question is, what kind of fox attacks the same coop twice in one day but doesn't get a kill? And if it's not a fox, what the heck is it? How do we stop it? How do we protect our chickens?
HELP US!
