What predator is this

[hayley3]

I actually had raccoons tunnel in from below. so I had to put chicken wire on the floor.

 

[TNBielefelder]

I checked the coops and shut them up tight and set live traps hope I can catch whatever it is. I will post and let everyone know if I catch anything.

 

[centrarchid]

Consider the following. Setup a night light and a baby monitor. Light, even though of low level will allow chickens to see bad guy and produce alarm calls. The baby monitor will enable you to hear the alarm calls. Then you will be able to respond in a timely fashion. Losses to predators like raccoons, opossums and owls are generally not quite or quick,

 

[hayley3]

@ centra: That is a great idea about the night light, never thought about that. I have the baby monitor but have a goose instead of the night light lol. Anything she hears she starts honking.

She wakes me up a couple times a night but I never see a thing although I'm sure there is something there they just didn't bother my birds.

Good luck on catching whatever it is. I still cannot even catch a picture of what killed my birds. It's very frustrating.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I would go out to coop right now with flashlite and listen. Shine on coop as walking to it and watch for large grayish-brown moth like critter flying off from coop or near by.

You will have to watch carefully because great horned owls fly like ghosts, only quieter.

 

[GodofPecking]

If your birds roost at the top of the coop, a feral cat may only be able to eat the head before the body drops to the floor.

A Feral cat killed many of my chickens in the last month or two before I caught it.

 

[TNBielefelder]

I wanted to update everyone about my situation. The first thing I did was search the coop for holes that a varmint could get in and didn't find anything but upon my search I did find a rat about 4 inches long that had built a nest behind my nesting boxes. I killed the rat and set live traps out for several nights. I did not catch anything or lose any more chickens. So either he rat did it or the real predator moved on.

 

[aart]

I wanted to update everyone about my situation. The first thing I did was search the coop for holes that a varmint could get in and didn't find anything but upon my search I did find a rat about 4 inches long that had built a nest behind my nesting boxes. I killed the rat and set live traps out for several nights. I did not catch anything or lose any more chickens. So either he rat did it or the real predator moved on.

If a rat got in....how did it get in?
Small weasel could get in the same way rat did.

 

[smarsh]

raccoons take it with them more than not. I have experienced birds taken by raccoons, weasel/minks, possoms foxes, owls, and hawks. A raccoon will usually eat more than that, they are a big animal, and usually leave with it. Every kill that I had proof of a mink being the culprit, the victim was beheaded only, but usually the mink killed more than one. an owl is the only bird of prey I have ever seen inside a building, but they would most certainly take it with them and would not eat the head.

 

[hayley3]

I've never had a raccoon take what they killed. I just find a headless and mauled chicken.