2 chickens killed :( by what? (Shrug)

[eaemnc]

The electric net is 7000 volts that pulse every second so that if you touch it you pull back and aren't stuck in the current and get fried.

I asked hubby and the head was off but still there, I'm not sure about the feet it's hard to get him to say much about what he saw. The feathers were pulled off. Would a raccoon do that or a possum?

Thanks again and God Bless you all

 

[fornese]

sounds like weasle to me. Weasles are RUTHLESS. They will go for the back of th ehead of a chicken an dsnap it right off and leave the rest. For whatever reason that is what they do. They don't even eat the carrion.

 

[Akane]

Most anything could eat the head and leave the rest depending on the circumstances. That's why I was saying if the rest of your pen is secure except the top I'd look at flying predators. I'd look at how something might have gotten in instead of just the kill. Can they go under the netting? Are there any tracks or dig marks? Do you have a top on the pen?

 

[willkatdawson]

I think it was a raccoon also. You could put a 3ft high layer of hardward cloth around the bottom of the run. That would keep raccoons from reaching in. I am adding photos of our run. We used 2x4 livestock field fencing for the sides and top. We also put an apron on the ground to prevent animals digging under. We do put the chickens in the hen house at night so weasles won't get them. They are so slender it's almost impossible to keep them out. I think the elec fence you have done is about the only way to keep them out. For the most part the hunt at night and in the very early am. If I had to do it over again I would have taken the hardware cloth all the way to the groun, or even aproned it out on the ground a bit. In the photo I sent you can see I was able to put the corncob under the fence. A raccoon will reach under the as well. I will ahve to add some stones there.ads/thumbs/8175_dscf2251.jpg[/img]

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[WoodlandWoman]

I just can't see an animal climbing up a net made with wires that have a 7000 volt charge. The electric netting I've seen has really narrow spacing at the bottom, too. Even if it didn't, I can't see a weasel squeezing through a gap, while getting zapped with 7000 volts.

 

[Tricia's Triple Z]

Have you seen any owls around. They just take the head/neck part.
Hawks will try to fly away with them

 

[eaemnc]

That was what I was thinking and we put metal securing staples where there was a tiny gap at the bottom the electric net starts small holes at the bottom and gets larger at the top which is 4' up. The very bottom wire isn't hot but all the others running horizontle are. A racoon would have gotten fried going in & I think it wouldn't have gone back out but I don't know. A weasle is small and may have done that as the chicken was head off but head still there feathers off and such and a looked like a bloody masacure. I think it may have been a hawk but still can't get hubby to give me a vivid discription. I'm thinking a hawk or weasle but would a weasle get fried twice for breaking the neck of a chicken that has been there for months? We can't sleep well wondering if it'll happen again. I can't wait for the cold weather and we will put them inside. (shrug) I don't think they will have much of a run at that point until spring. Do any of you keep your chickens inside a coop in a barn or similar for the winter??

Thanks and God Bless you always,

Ann

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[WoodlandWoman]

If it was me, I'd contact the manufacturer and whoever you bought that netting from. I'd tell them you're having problems with aerial predators and you're looking for suggestions on ways to discourage them, while using their product.

I think the problem here, is that not many people on this forum are using this product, so they just don't have more suggestions for you. You could also do a Google search on "electric netting hawk" and maybe add poultry in there. I'm sure there are other people in the world with experience that might have other suggestions for you, it's just a matter of finding them.