predator

  1. T

    Potential new threat

    Hey guys. I saw some fresh dirt under the chicken rack thst I didn't notice yesterday. I think a raccoon might be trying to get at the chickens again. But we do also have a couple of cats hanging around, so I'm not sure. There was a small pile of fresh dirt near a small gap in the wall. It...
  2. rosemarysugar

    Mysterious egg stealer???

    I accidentally left a basket of 7 egg in my chicken yard and woke up to these tracks and 4 eggs missing. Any idea what animal these tracks belong to? All my chickens were fine and there wasn't any scratches on the coop or anything. I live in colorado if that helps. 😊 Thanks!!!
  3. G

    A cat issue?

    Over the past 2 weeks, we've come outside to dead chickens, some without their head and neck, some with only half of their body eaten, others dried up, and some with just the structure of the wings and feathers left. I've done many research as to who the predator could be, since we fence our...
  4. KerriChick

    Sharp Shinned Hawk is Lurking...

    Yesterday we had what I think is a Sharp Shinned hawk dive for our Brahma! There was a huge racket and they all ran and hid(they have a covered run that is more like a pen with a tarp over the top that is not completely enclosed, but I cover the gaps and it is pretty highly hawk resistant-the...
  5. C

    Lost a chicken in 4 minute window

    Hi all, first time poster here and fairly new to chickens. We have (or possibly had) a silkie chicken that has gone missing tonight. They typically free range and my husband and I went on a walk around our property around sunset knowing the birds typically go in on their own and we’d be back in...
  6. chickenchicklady

    Meat bird tractor

    Hello! We are building a meat bird tractor! We have it doneC other than predator proofing.. we aren’t sure how to go about that! Any suggestions?
  7. ChickenPerson999999

    Recently one of my chickens got killed

    So she was my first ever chicken and first chicken that ever died. We found her dead with her back end gone. It was nothing else but her top end. It also ate her intestines including the part where she produces her egg. It was no blood or any feather scattered around on the ground so I’m...
  8. L

    Help with Predator ID (Graphic)

    Over the last month, I’ve found 3 dead hens on my backyard. (Not my chickens, but I do have chickens in secure coops.) In each case, the entire bird seems to have been eaten except for some of the wings (and a foot in one case). In all three cases, the gizzard was untouched; other than that...
  9. tielie135

    preditor ID help

    i just had a very bad quail attack last night. 3 (making a total of 5) more quail were killed and one was very severely injured. all having the heads torn off at the shoulders and eaten with very little else eaten (just a couple of bites out of the breast on two) and one hen that was very badly...
  10. C

    Duck pen attacked, what now?

    I have a couple different questions, but feel free to add any input you have. I had a flock of 6 ducks, all were 6 weeks. Last night something got into their outdoor pen. Question 1: the hardware cloth was ripped out in a straight line and it wasn’t along a seam either, does anyone know what...
  11. G

    8 chickens disappeared, 1 found dead

    Our 11 chickens free range during the day on our 4 acres of wooded land. They always come back around 7pm, hang out in the backyard for about an hour and then put themselves to bed around 8pm Around 7, there was only 3 chickens in the yard, our 2 roosters and our only Easter Egger My husband...
  12. C

    Are hawks and raccoons the only decapitators ?

    Actually now that I think about it, owls eat heads off as well. . . So wasteful. ANYWHO - a little over a week ago we had a nighttime attack, 3 chicks were maimed enough to be culled, 2 went completely missing and we found feathers about 50 yards away, near the base of the tree and 2...
  13. L

    Kibble as a predator deterrant?

    hi, I'm a new chicken owner and I was wondering, would placing kibble at strategic areas away from the coop keep predators distracted? I have my coop up by my deck, which is surrounded by a low 3 foot fence. If there is food outside the fence, will they bother working to get within the fence and...
  14. buffy-the-eggpile-layer

    Beware of Rat Snakes **GRAPHIC IMAGES**

    Hey everyone. I'm posting this as a warning about large rat snakes, which are commonly regarded as helpful to keep around for pest control. We recently had seen several in our coops--one of them over 5 feet long--and caught/released them thinking they were harmless (despite the egg casualty) and...
  15. M

    Fluffy the Dinosaur, a tale of Survival

    I’m fairly New to backyard chickening so I Still learn a lot every day. I’ve made mistakes over the past few years such as mixing aggressive breeds with more docile breeds when I wanted to increase my flock/egg production. I spent hours, initially, observing my girls, trying to learn the pecking...
  16. CastleRockFarm

    Thoughts on Farm Dogs, Dead Chickens and Predators

    Hello All! I’ve recently seen some posts regarding dogs killing chickens, and asking which dogs make the best flock protectors. Here is my offering of rambling thoughts and stories.... Shared with the hope that every flock loving family Vintage A dear friend and 70yo long time chicken lady...
  17. buffy-the-eggpile-layer

    Our Dog Killed the Neighbors' Turkey Poult

    **I'm not sure what I'm looking for when writing this post. Maybe to just be able to get this off my chest or to see if others have had shared experiences. Maybe an attempt at catharsis. Any thoughts our personal insights are much appreciated. We are having a hard time with this.** BACKGROUND...
  18. BigNan

    Hawks

    I’m a new chicken owner and we have a mobile coop we move around so that we can rotate the chickens. But we’d like to expand the cage more so the chickens would have more space. We currently have a top on because we had problems with hawks when the chickens were younger. But we’d like to make a...
  19. S

    Introducing Myself

    We are brand spanking new to raising chickens. We started 3 mos ago as something to do during quarantine especially for our adult special needs daughter. We started with 5 New Hampshire Reds and immediately found that all kinds of things came up that we needed to know about and that’s how we...
  20. AMaggio

    Missing Muscovy, predator or instinct?

    Hi all, this morning when I got up I am usually greeted by three Muscovy walking over to get breakfast but today there were only two. I'm pretty sure the one missing is a female as she is slightly smaller than the other two, but I'm new to Muscovy so I am not sure. There aren't any signs of a...
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