Poultry Predator Identification

[chickengeorgeto]

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?

Your correct. Dogs don't kill chickens as much as they like to play pitch and catch with them. However the chicken is dead just the same.

 

[Clucked Up]

W-O-W! Just wow! Thanks.


Nine 2 month old hens, just one local cat ... it's outta' here TOMORROW!

 

[rainbowhatchery]

People shoudl print this and keep it, awesome article thanks.

 

[happyfrenchman]

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?

That is a hawk kill. Usually they shoot a poop off to the side too, like a calling card. Did you notice that? Coopers hawk will kill a young chicken. Will eat every bit of it right there or take it off. The plucked feathers are the tip off.

 

[karenerwin]

That is a hawk kill. Usually they shoot a poop off to the side too, like a calling card. Did you notice that? Coopers hawk will kill a young chicken. Will eat every bit of it right there or take it off. The plucked feathers are the tip off.

No, I didn't notice any poop. I think you are correct though that it is a hawk. We have those around as well. They don't bother the big chickens.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Yeah... that has been my experience too . I don't let young chickens out with the flock. I did have a mature hen killed by what I assume was a hawk. It had a big talon mark in it's back but was mostly unmarked. I think either my dogs or the roosters must have run it off... But as someone said earlier... Dead nonetheless.

 

[jajeanpierre]

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

I just wanted to add that when an bird is attacked, they drop feathers. If you've ever seen a bird of prey hit a bird in mid air, you'll understand--there is an explosion of feathers. I imagine it is a defense mechanism--if something has hold of the feathers, they drop them to escape.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Now, to why I came to this site today.

Neither my husband nor I remembered to close up the coops that houses my FAVORITE ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE old bantam cochin rooster. I thought he did, he thought I did. His coop is not 20 feet away from my bedroom window. All windows were closed because of the storms.... Everything conspired to my losing Brewster. If the windows had been open I'm sure the dogs sleeping under the windows only 20 feet from his pen would have started yelling as they do whenever anything is rattling around in the back yard. I am so angry at myself. I adored that little bird. He was the sweetest bird imaginable, even thought he was almost 3 years old.

I think raccoon but want opinions. My dog killed a medium sized raccoon this spring, but my husband found wet footprints on the kitchen counter in the cabana by the pool. He said they looked like hands and exactly like the raccoon prints that had been on my coop this winter. I didn't see the as they were just water and had dried up. I just assumed raccoon or possum and felt it was my duty to keep my chickens safe. I live in the country--there are going to be predators. I failed to keep my favorite birds safe. I am sooo angry with myself.

Brewster's pen is under a big oak tree a few feet from my back deck beside the pool. He was in a short pen by himself with chicken wire across the the top which was only on to keep growing Ameraucana chicks in--it wasn't meant to keep out predators other than hawks. He has a little coop that I lock up at night--except last night of course.

I found a few feathers in his coop, a few feathers in the pen, but most of the feathers were at the base of the tree outside the pen. The pen is right beside the tree. I found a few feathers on a really big limb in the tree, one with a piece of flesh attached, but just a few feathers. The animal could have jumped up from the top of the pen onto the tree branch as it is only about 5 feet off the ground and the pen/coop is right underneath the branch.

I searched the yard and found a couple of feather and found where he had been dragged over the fence. On the other side of the fence is bush. I climbed over and found his pelvis about 10 feet from my fence line under a big juniper tree and I found a piece of liver about 5 feet from that, plus a few feathers, but not many. The pelvis and femur attached were completely clean. There were a few flies where I found the piece of liver so I suspect that is where the animal ate my Brewster.

Raccoon? Would a fox take an animal and eat it so close to my house?

I normally have a live-and-let-live philosophy, but right now I planning to trap and dispose of whatever got my beautiful Brewster. Aside from the animal learning that there is chicken dinner at my house, I don't really want my dogs tangling with a raccoon. My 50-pound pit bull got pretty beat up killing that raccoon and it only weighed 15 pounds. I was impressed my dog hardly got cut up at all, but he sure was body sore and had a lot of swelling on his face.

What kind of an animal do you think?

 

[duckmanjim]

Ive had ducks killed by something, just their heads ripped off and not eaten! Found a wild mallard hen killed on her nest with same fate! Beheaded but not eaten. Killed for sport it seemed! Is this the work of a raccoon?

 

[jajeanpierre]

First a picture of my beautiful, sweet Brewster. I am still reeling from his death. I caught the medium-sized raccoon pictured a couple of nights later and broke down and released him--ya, I know--far away from farms and houses along a river. That's two raccoons that have been removed from my property, one by me and the other by my dog. I'll set the trap again and try to get all raccoons that might come to my property to be sure I get the one who has learned to eat my chickens. Any new raccoons that move in--and I know they will--at least won't have learned my chickens are food. They might not be as motivated to risk my dog since they haven't had the big reward of successfully killing a chicken. Now that the weather is nice, my dog does not want to come in at night, instead he wants to stay out on guard. What a good dog he is. I have a big covered porch and will make him a comfy bed. I was more than a little surprised by the aggression of this raccoon. The trap I used is really big, almost 4 feet long, and he would fly across it and reach through the wire to grab me with his hands when I tried to move the cage. I expected him to try to get as far away from me as possible--he had lots of room in the cage.