13 dead and found 2 hiding

[woodmort]

What kind of damage? Those left partly eaten? A hawk would leave deep talon marks and probably not have carried off 9. A dog would probably maul the birds but not carry off 9. A coon would tear out the crops. A weasel would have killed that many but not carried off any either. I'd need more info before I'd make a guess.

 

[camaro10]

9 were totally gone but the 4 we found dead did not have any visible mauling. They did have a puncture wound in their stomach. My 2 BR's just finally came out of the coop this morning. I was going to get more chickens this Saturday. Don't want to start over with chick's so don't have much to choose from. A woman not to far from me has Bantams for sale about the same age as my BR's. What do you think of Bantams? Not to familiar about different breeds.

 

[theFox]

Quote:
A dog will kill that many, they normally drop the bird as soon as it stops moving and go after another.

The fact that you didn't find all of them is that they are not that easy to find if they aren't moving or can't be flushed.

Been there, but I broke up the attack so I knew what was doing it, it still took several hours to find the birds even though they all survived.

 

[woodmort]

Sounds like one or more dogs except for the missing birds. I suppose, if it were multiple dogs they might have carried off that many or scattered the birds and killed them elsewhere. Sometimes it takes a CSI investigator to figure out who perpetrated the crime. I'd keep a careful eye out when you get your new birds--dogs tend to know when you're not around and do their dirty work then. Usually it is someone's pet that "never would do a thing like that!"

 

[sourland]

I think that I would try to identify the predator and resolve the problem before getting more chickens. Sadly enough it will be back. Good luck resolving this. P. S. A hawk will kill one bird, a pair may kill two-raptors would not kill 13. That sounds like a large cat or canine kill. Feathers scattered all over the place would point to dogs. Dead or missing birds with minimal sign would tend to indicate a bobat, pair of fox, pack of coyotes.

 

[urbanfarmer101]

We have been seeing fox at 8:00 am! They are feeding full force. I am even seeing them before dark sneaking across our pasture towards the chicken house.

To have that many missing, you have a 4 legged predator. Check around, you still might have a few girls that survived and are hiding. Check the trees, roof tops anywhere they could have escaped to.