3 days have gone by, 3 cockerels found dead. What's happening!?

[Hencraze24]

So, my current flock consisted of 5 pullets, 7 hens, and 3 cockerels (trying to rehome 2 of them. ). In the past 3 days, all 3 of my 2 1/2 month old roos have been found dead. It started with my Cochin, who was found missing a leg, wing, and his head. then my Polish, ripped in half, and my Japanese bantam has gone missing. What's happening?


Theory number 1: My cockerels have been killing each other. (but that doesn't explain starflight, our Japanese bantam) In my thread can't get cockerels to stop fighting, I talked about how my 3 roos are beating each other bloody. I guess maybe the fighting got carried away? I doubt it.

Theory number 2: my hens are killing them. My hens are treating the pullets very well right now, and are about 1 year and a quarter old. There have been no issues, outside of a pullet found with an eye injury. (she's fine now) However, our RIRs have been quite aggressive with our smaller pullets. I doubt this theory too, but it is a possibility.

theory number 3: A hawk did this. We are not at all new to hawk attacks. Over the winter, we lost 5 (nearly 6) of our original flock of 12. A massive cooper's hawk was responsible for this. He avoided our decoy owl and fishing line, as well and shiny objects. Nothing worked. What do we do?

What do you guys think happened? I think the hawk did this, but I could be wrong. How do I stop this from happening again? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[sourland]

It sounds like the work of a predator and very likely a raptor. The only guarantee against hawk attacks is a covered pen.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

my Cochin, who was found missing a leg, wing, and his head. then my Polish, ripped in half

This is a predator for sure. I keep rooster and this is not the result of ANY chicken on chicken confrontation.

Decoy owls are a joke unless you mover them around regularly... then MAYBE.

It might be a hawk... or even a cat... any other number of predators even. Someone is feeding their young. Sorry for your loss.

When I am trying to get something like this under control... we usually go on lock down. But that's why my coop is large.. your flock dynamics may not allow for this. But once they know the buffet is closed they move on and my flock is free to roam semi safely again.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Agreed, it’s a predator.

 

[Hencraze24]

Decoy owls are a joke unless you mover them around regularly... then MAYBE.

It might be a hawk... or even a cat... any other number of predators even. Someone is feeding their young. Sorry for your loss.

When I am trying to get something like this under control... we usually go on lock down. But that's why my coop is large.. your flock dynamics may not allow for this. But once they know the buffet is closed they move on and my flock is free to roam semi safely again.

Our coop is barley big enough for 8, and we have 12, so lock down is miserable for them.
It could be our neighbor's dog. Can a golden retriever jump a 4 foot fence? I have seen the hawk once on the ground, claiming a silkie kill. that's why I think it was a raptor of some sort. Our decoy is moved around every 3-4 days, but the hawk was not fooled. Also, it is completely ironic that the three deaths were our only roosters? Our first death in the winter was our silkie roo as well. Do hawks prefer roosters over hens?

 

[Hencraze24]

It sounds like the work of a predator and very likely a raptor. The only guarantee against hawk attacks is a covered pen.

Any ideas or pictures on how to build one?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Can a golden retriever jump a 4 foot fence?

They can... but this doesn't sound like the handy work of a dog. Hawks are very patient and good ambush predators. I think they those that straggle behind or apart and their are safety in numbers.. but that's just a theory. Could be they were the ones who didn't run. Agreed a raptor is a very likely suspect.

I figured moving the owl was probably in vain.. thanks for confirming.

It is weird... almost like they're doing you a favor. Sorry, that's inappropriate!

I set out tipped over chairs and other crud like wheelbarrow and so on that is low cover easy to hide under as part of my deterrent techniques.

The good news is... as you suspected.. it is NOT your flock doing this. Post a pic of your coop and we can help you come up with some run ideas... I used pvc pipes in the shape of a triangle cave covered by wire (even chicken wire for DAY time raptors) that is held on by zip ties... there are better ways, this is just a quick example of how to keep it easy.

 

[123RedBeard]

The ripping apart bit ... sounds like a raccoon came visiting ...

 

[centrarchid]

The ripping apart bit ... sounds like a raccoon came visiting ...

I also smell raccoon on this one. Opossum also possible. Use one of dead birds as bait, otherwise another bird will be targeted.

 

[GC-Raptor]

I covered my dog kennel/chicken pen with deer netting held on with zip ties.

It won't keep out mammals, but raptors should be detoured. It's been up since April 24.
My coops are predator proof (excluding bears) when I close the pop door after sunset. GC