2 Chickens pulled from coop at night

[tennis97]

Hi, I have (had) a flock of 4 leghorn pullets that live in a coop built up against my garage. We have a wood, elevated coop that the hens sleep in in the winter time, however, in the summer, they have taken to sleeping in a less secure section that we built from metal siding. It is much cooler, but it doesn't have an individual door to keep them as safe and isn't elevated with a floor, meaning that something can crawl under, as it did last night. My chickens were nervous about being locked up and I found them on top of one of our cars in the driveway instead of in their coop. I put them inside and figured that they might just be hot and decided I would do some work on the coop in the morning. Then, this morning, I came out and found that there were a lot of feathers everywhere inside of the coop and only two chickens. I found a small hole in the back corner of the coop about the size of a brick on its side that it appears the chickens were drug through. There is a trial of feather in my yard that leads to the woods. I can't find any remains. My question is, what could have killed them? I live in northeast Ohio. About a month ago two of my hens were picked off midday (about two days apart) in the open, leaving only a trail of feathers. We decided that was a hawk. But this attack happened at night and left a lot more feathers. Please help me identify the predator and tell me how to deter it. I love my little chickens!

 

[Bengt747]

I'm not completely sure what I think about the predator, but I tend to think it was a raccoon. While mink are certainly more than capable of squeezing through a small hole, it would take an awful lot of work for a mink to carry away 2 good sized leghorns. Mother raccoons are feeding their little ones this time of the year, so they aren't liable to pass up chickens, unfortunately.

The best deterrent is a predator-resistant coop. Be sure that all holes and potential places of entry are filled in, wired or boarded shut, etc. The use of 1/4 " hardware cloth is highly recommended by a number of poultry enthusiasts. Enclose the metal siding structure as best you can, allowing for adequate ventilation to keep your birds from overheating. The hardware cloth should help greatly with this.

Many predators are attracted to the sight and smell of chickens, so it is often just a matter of time before there's a run-in with predators. Keeping them locked up at night and providing "hiding spots" (anything that the chickens can run beneath in the event that they spot a hawk, potentially protecting them from attack) during the day can reduce the number of fatalities.

You could also trap the raccoons using a standard Havahart live trap and dispatch them. However, traps will only delay another attack if the coop/enclosure remains insecure. I would highly recommend reinforcing the current coop(s) and enclosures being used by your remaining hens.

Best of luck.

 

[tennis97]

Thank you very much for the advice! We weren't sure if a raccoon could squeeze though the small space as you said, and also weren't sure how a weasel or a mink could drag two hens. We will be reinforcing today, I appreciate your help!

 

[Bengt747]

You're very welcome!

 

[tennis97]

We vented the more secure "winter" coop and fixed the entry point. My girls are so scared to sleep in the coop we decided to drape some towels over the venting (which is covered by hardware cloth) to calm them down. Left some cayenne pepper and hot sauce filled marshmallows out. In the morning the towels had been pulled down and the marshmallow bombs were gone! I hope the raccoon got a good burn and won't be back! Thanks for the help.

 

[the poppster]

Hi, I have (had) a flock of 4 leghorn pullets that live in a coop built up against my garage. We have a wood, elevated coop that the hens sleep in in the winter time, however, in the summer, they have taken to sleeping in a less secure section that we built from metal siding. It is much cooler, but it doesn't have an individual door to keep them as safe and isn't elevated with a floor, meaning that something can crawl under, as it did last night. My chickens were nervous about being locked up and I found them on top of one of our cars in the driveway instead of in their coop. I put them inside and figured that they might just be hot and decided I would do some work on the coop in the morning. Then, this morning, I came out and found that there were a lot of feathers everywhere inside of the coop and only two chickens. I found a small hole in the back corner of the coop about the size of a brick on its side that it appears the chickens were drug through. There is a trial of feather in my yard that leads to the woods. I can't find any remains. My question is, what could have killed them? I live in northeast Ohio. About a month ago two of my hens were picked off midday (about two days apart) in the open, leaving only a trail of feathers. We decided that was a hawk. But this attack happened at night and left a lot more feathers. Please help me identify the predator and tell me how to deter it. I love my little chickens!

I had 8chicks murdered this spring by a mama weasel...she had eaten all the chipmunk in the yard and now started on my birds. That was not acceptable!! So I put out weasel traps and baited them with her victims...caught her the next night...and the resident male the following day....so far no more weasel problems this summer....I'm sure they will be back this fall..but there will be plenty of chipmunks for food...my coop is attached to my garage as well...all and any possible entry spots are secured with hardware cloth...the pop door is set in slides and when shut it sets into a channel at the bottom...once the door is shut, it is almost impossible to open from the outside...I installed a big double hung window with screen and hardware cloth over the whole thing...the screen is on the inside and can be removed to access the window...the door into the garage is solid wood....but to increase the ventilation in the summer I built a screen door...also covered with hardware cloth and screen..it's taken many upgrades to get to this point....but I feel comfortably sure that my birds are about as safe as I can mare them...I'm sure I will be changing something else down the road....it seems like a work in progress....my neighbor calls it the Coop-da-Ville.

 

[the poppster]

So far no Raccoons have visited here...they may not like the dogs and when the birds are secure in their coop at night any raccoon would have to have a Sawsall to get into the coop....maybe I'm tempting fate saying that...but here in the U.P. we have an assortment of hungry predators who would love to have chicken for dinner...from weasels to wolves...foxes...maybe it was a Fox that squeezed thru the brick sized hole. I lost my first flock to a Bear...or a Cougar...whatever it was made a hole in the outer pen wire, I could step thru....and then squeezed into the pop door and demolished the perches....birds refused to return to the coop...eventually they Migrated to the neighbors old barn.

 

[tennis97]

I am very worried for them, they seem incredibly on edge while they are outside during the day and at night they are absolutely terrified when we lock them up. I feel so bad for them. I hope with time that they will be comfortable again in the coop? At this point I am almost positive it was a raccoon, I thought a weasel at first because of the size of the entry hole, but the two chickens are missing, and it left two still alive instead of killing every chicken and only eating the heads.

 

[the poppster]

I leave a radio playing softly in the garage just outside the coop door 24/7 it's on the local classical channel....they seem to enjoy it and it appears to calm them...try feeding the girls inside the coop...if they don't go in...move them at night and get a low watt red light for inside the coop...it's quite dim but the birds can see and the night predators don't seem to like it when their intended victims can see them..the girls should put up quite a fuss if anything threatening enters the coop if they can see it. My Roos keep watch over their girls..and will sacrifice themselves to protect them....if you cant keep a Roo or don't want to then secure your coop as best as you can and give them a fighting chance with a light....so at least they don't sit there like stuffed animals and let the predators pick them off one at a time....with Mary a peep

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Coons are to sure of themselves to carry a chicken off to enjoy at a picnic, a coon will pig out where it made the kill. I have often stated that coons live in large colonies, that means that any thing that a coon catches and brings "back" is subject to being taken away from him or her by the big coons.

I think that your varmint is a wild K9, likely a red fox. Scope out the jagged wire edges were the predator entered and exited for hair.