Poultry Predator Identification

[TJordan]

I've seen the birds climb on her back to sleep and they all just take a nap...

 

[jajeanpierre]

I thought my dog at first as well... But no wounds on the back or head... JUST on the breast and bottoms... She's a big dog...


Here's a picture of her with them... She's on a chain but still would jump the fence to lay down with my birds...

Stray dog? You weren't home.....

By the way, my PIT BULL is fine with all my chickens. He chases the deer off the property (my neighbor feeds them so I have a huge herd of starving deer all over my property) and has ended up catching a fawn and a yearling that he ended up killing (I got the fawn away from him and took it to rescue, but they put it down).

 

[TJordan]

Stray dog?  You weren't home.....

By the way, my PIT BULL is fine with all my chickens.  He chases the deer off the property (my neighbor feeds them so I have a huge herd of starving deer all over my property) and has ended up catching a fawn and a yearling that he ended up killing (I got the fawn away from him and took it to rescue, but they put it down).

Not sure... We are installing a privacy fence in 2 weeks... Then we will add a new, predator proof, run using hardware cloth and a new coop for my surviving birds...

 

[karenerwin]

Here is what I found today when I got home. It use to be a 5 week old white leghorn. I'm thinking possum, raccoon or skunk. We've seen all of them on our property. What do you think?

 

[dekel18042]

Here is what I found today when I got home. It use to be a 5 week old white leghorn. I'm thinking possum, raccoon or skunk. We've seen all of them on our property. What do you think?

I'm thinking any of the predators you mentioned wouldn't have made the entire chicken disappear. Was the top of the run open? If the bird was only five weeks old and small perhaps a hawk carried him away or a fox.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Here is what I found today when I got home. It use to be a 5 week old white leghorn. I'm thinking possum, raccoon or skunk. We've seen all of them on our property. What do you think?

The feathers left behind is an example of a classic hawk attack. A 5 week old White Leghorn can be spirited away lock stock and body by all three of the "chicken" hawk species, especially after the victim is mostly de-feathered which drastically reduces air resistance

 

[karenerwin]

I'm thinking any of the predators you mentioned wouldn't have made the entire chicken disappear. Was the top of the run open? If the bird was only five weeks old and small perhaps a hawk carried him away or a fox.

The feathers left behind is an example of a classic hawk attack. A 5 week old White Leghorn can be spirited away lock stock and body by all three of the "chicken" hawk species, especially after the victim is mostly de-feathered which drastically reduces air resistance

We actually wondered about hawks. The reason that I was ruling them out is that this one was under half of a tarp and in a small enclosure (maybe 6 ft by 4 ft) and we have fishing line strung above it as well. However, we do have hawks & owls, so it could definitely be a hawk.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We actually wondered about hawks. The reason that I was ruling them out is that this one was under half of a tarp and in a small enclosure (maybe 6 ft by 4 ft) and we have fishing line strung above it as well. However, we do have hawks & owls, so it could definitely be a hawk.

The first thing that a hawk does after capturing a meal is to peel the fur or feathers off it's prize, sort of like you or I would peel an orange, to get to the good parts.

Once a predator of any kind is inside the run, the wire only makes it easier for a predator to kill your birds, because the birds can be pinned against the wire. The phrase, "caught between the Devil and the deep blue sea" comes to mind.

Fishing line strung willy nelly or in nooses and loops is a good way to capture a hawk but a poor way to exclude one from your pens. I doubt that a hawk is even able to see monofilament line which is why it's used by the Game and Fish folks to capture raptors for banding and other study purposes..

 

[maddog3355]

bird of prey of some sort. After they kill they sit there and go to plucking feathers.

 

[oopsadazy27]

I need help identifying a predator.we've had two chickens killed within the last week. The bodies were relatively untouched. Barely a feather missing. Both kills happened in the evening. Our chickens are free range during the day and cooped up at night. We do have a dog. He has not killed a chicken for almost one year when the girls were new to him. When he did kill them there were feathers everywhere and they were mutilated. These chickens, this week we're not that way. We're trying to give the dog the benefit of the doubt. Since it doesn't follow his usual MO. The chickens were found within 20 feet of the coop, looked like they died a strange but peaceful death.What we've been curious about, is there an illness that can cause a chicken to you have little to no symptoms, still lay regularly, yet fall over dead at any given time? These two chickens were two very different breeds however they came from the same farm. We are just trying to land on something because we're tired of my children crying and crying whenever they lose one of their little chickens. Any words of wisdom out there?