First predator loss!

WestKnollAmy

The Crazy Chicken Lady
Apr 22, 2008
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upstate SC
And in the daytime no less! (I know, you all hear this all the time.)

It had to be a possum because that is all I have seen around here. Tracks from deer and some neighbor's cats but no raccoons or dogs on our place. The cats always walk among the chickens and really are smaller than my feather friends so I haven't worried. Plus they are all well fed so I am thinking the possum that I have seen going into the brush pile behind the barn at night is the one.
The hen must have gotten into the shed where they have gone to lay eggs before and started to lay. All I found was a feathery carcass. No head but half eaten and under an old small tractor. I found her when I was putting everyone to bed yesterday afternoon and she was fairly fresh.
So now DH says we must get a LGD and burn the brush pile and maybe sit outside at night and pick off wild critters. He almost cried over his beloved Blk Star being killed. She was one of his pets.
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I'm soo sorry. I know from experience how much that hurts. You might try using a live trap to catch the thing and then dispose of it as you see fit. Poor girl. I HATE that!!!
 
racoon are known for takeing the head off . we use a night vision game camera to film at day or might .racoons pull the head off chickens .i think because the squak so much,,, sorry about your loss . were theres one there is 20
we use a old steel jaw trap with fish
we lost 5 nice birds and that will never happen again . and we fixed the coon and made the chicken cage so tight light wont even make it in . but watch out a racoon will pull the hen right out of the pen threw the smallest hole pice bu pice . we lost a nice white silkie that way the trap worked and i hope that racoon enjoyed his last supper . if they wont kill my pets i wont kill them
 
Keep an open mind about what your predator is... just because you haven't seen any or any tracks doesn't mean they're not there.

It does sound like a coon to me.
 
Thanks everyone!
I did not think a coon would be out in the day. I looked all over the little shed to see if maybe it had a bed in there but there wasn't anything pushed down except where the hens like to lay sometimes. Chickens were free ranging all around them but this was the only one gotten. But it was inside and under something.
I had thought a coon also but have only seen a possum here and it is right near the shed where it goes into a brush pile.
She will be missed but mostly I want the predator gone so I don't lose more chickens.
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Yesterday I seen two coons out in daylight searching up food. They are out in day light hours too. I know ours around here are very hungry this time of year too. I was worried about my chickens when I seen that yesterday. SO sorry for your loss! I sure hope you find what ever it was that did this so it won't be back for another.
 
Im sorry for your lose,if the varmit got one chicken it will find a way to get another,and another,,kill the thing,relocating only transports the problem to someone else,trap it,,shoot it,however,,but bury it,,save yourself more heartbreak,,it will be back for more if you don,t ,their hungry,spring is coming,breeding will start soon,,and bigger problems for you.
 
Set a trap last night. First we caught a chicken...our own!
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Then we put them all to bed and set the trap again for the night.
But this morning there was a cat in there. Poor Orange Kitty. He wanted the snack. I know he did not kill the chicken, he has lived here all his life and walks among them with a bit of fear. He was pecked often as a youngster. He probably won't be back here for a while. That trap scared him.
I'll have to set it tonight again after I put the chickens up.
We did start burning that brush pile. The only thing under it was a rat that we could see but it is a big pile and we still have to finish burning it. Lots of large logs.
 
put the trap on top of the cage or if u have fenceing for ta roof outside the coop (outside run) place it there. we have a outside run made of cattle fence completely inclosed run so i put the trap up there . lol put bush in front of the troops
 

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