Skunk attack??

[chixmaidservice]

Just moved my hens to my new home over July 4th. Gave in to the lure of buying more chicks when the August chicks rolled into the feed stores. Moved the newly fledged kids into a chicken tractor so they can get grass and sunshine and more exercise. Lost a chick last night to something that dug a very shallow hole under the tractor and ate the chick whole except for one leg, digestive tract and several tail feathers. Left the other chicks alone and had to dig a little to squeeze out the way he went in. I know I have a skunk hanging around and he is small and could of fit. Fox, feral cat, coyote pup or skunk? Fox would of snatched and run, not had his meal there in the tractor. Tractor is very close to house and garage and hemmed in by hen house fence on other 2 sides. Any guesses what I’m fighting? The tractor got predator aprons today.

 

[AidKD]

I say skunk. Just lost a hen to one a couple months ago. I caught it and killed it and just caught another a couple days ago. The first one dug under the coop and the second one was starting to. Hope you can catch it! Good luck!

 

[Dry Creek Chickens]

I 2nd a skunk. I had one getting at my chicks. One night I stayed out and when I heard the commotion, I went over to the pen with a flash light and a "skunk eliminator". I shined the flash light inside and saw him tearing into a chick. He did not care that I had a very bright light on him. He just kept taking care of business. So I used my "skunk eliminator" and that was that. Still lost that chick. Got all the aprons on the pens and so far no more loss of chicks.

 

[Folly's place]

Usually you can smell that a skunk was there, even hours later. it's still likely, and your birds need to be in a safe place, at least at night, until this is resolved. Rats can do the same thing, or an opossum.
Mary.

 

[cmom]

If you have a game camera, put it up and you will probably find out what the predator is and then you can plan on how to eliminate it. I'm sure it will be back. Good luck.

 

[AidKD]

Usually you can smell that a skunk was there, even hours later. it's still likely, and your birds need to be in a safe place, at least at night, until this is resolved. Rats can do the same thing, or an opossum.
Mary.

When I found my bird dead in the coop I looked up looked up many different pedators that could have done it. When I seen skunk, everything that had happened looked like a skunk had gotten in there but I dismissed it thinking that I would have smelled it. Well, when the skunk attacked it was on attack mode and therefore had no reason to spray. You can't smell them otherwise.

 

[cmom]

I have found one of the birds dead in one of the coops. Not a loss from a predator. Could have been a heart attack here. When I have found a bird dead in the coops or the pens and I have checked them over, I usually don't find anything unusual. No one around here (vets) deals with poultry. I had a issue with skunks a few years ago. We are rural on a dead end road and someone was catching them and releasing them in our area.They were digging up my yard. I put live traps out and in around two weeks I caught around a dozen skunks. One night I got two skunks in one trap. Another night I went out to check on the chicks because I had forgotten to close their pop door. When I went out there was a skunk attempting to dig under the gate to their pen. Somehow the pop door was closed just enough that some of the chicks couldn't get in. I stomped my feet at the skunk and it turned towards me and stomped it's feet at me. I went into the house and got my gun and went back out and attempted to scare the skunk off and again it stomped it's feet at me, it seemed persistent. I shot it and put a bucket over it until I could deal with it in the morning.