50 Birds murdered and not eaten(Graphic Pics) Caught me a killer!

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

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Rabies can only be transferred via saliva through a puncture wound. IMO, the threat is greatly exaggerated in the US. The meat should be safe to feed to the dogs - dogs are very capable of shedding things like e coli or salmonella in their feces (instead of getting sick)

I'm an avid raw feeder in this house Thank you chicknlady for not wasting the meat!

 

[dave3877]

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amen thats how we roll in the lone star state

 

[bigdawg]

if the heads are missing i would say possums for sure and possibly coons. set a live trap with one of the dead ones as bait. and sorry for your loss. in the future try a low watt light and a radio works for me

 

[cluck-addict]

i dont see any heads. We lost over 20 a few weeks ago and allin one night. Nothing really eaten. just heads everywhere. not much blood either.

IT was a weazel and they have a funny smell.

trap EVERYTHING!

Good luck and condolences.

 

[wilds of pa]

What a loss, Sorry to hear of this, very sad, hope you can catch/kill your culprit so you do not have a return of this event

Fishers are about the size of a fox, have a dark brown coat, and are as comfortable scampering in a woodland’s canopy as they are roaming the forest floor. Despite its name, fishers really aren’t into catching fish. They’ll eat fish if they happen upon a dead or discarded one. But they prefer squirrels, rabbits, porcupines and carrion. Fishers, which weigh eight to 15 pounds, depending upon age and sex, are active all winter and have young in March and April. Young fishers disperse from their family unit in late summer.

“Fishers are opportunistic feeders,” Hardisky said. “They’ll hunt everything from squirrels and raccoons to porcupines and rabbits. They also have demonstrated an ability to make feeding adjustments that include raiding hawk and owl nests, eating road-killed deer and preying on livestock. In fact, the last known native fisher killed in the state was shot for stealing chickens in the Bird-in-Hand area of Lancaster County in 1896!”

http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=157811
Its possible..

however Ive been trapping for many years and have yet to catch one or see signs of any on the blue mountain range.. even though pgc supposedly released two about 3 miles from our home years ago, still no signs of them here in Lehigh county.

Id tend to think coon, weasel, mink..possibly released ferrets..

As long as the meat is fully cooked i wouldnt worry about feeding it to your pets.

~Wilds~​

 

[chickensioux]

OMG so sorry this happened. Dogs will do this. So, so sorry for all your losses.

 

[Cockadoodlezoo]

I am so sorry this happened to you! My guess would be a mink. They are notorious for killing anything and everything in the coop and leaving it there. Bloodthirsty little devils they are!

 

[ROC4K]

Wow...my goodness me. I was upset over an apparent owl that took one of my girls night before last. This pales in comparison to your dilemma. I do hope you find and dispatch the perps.

 

[chiknlady]

Thanks C!
I looked at pictures of Mink and Weasel and what I saw had ears more upright and rounded like the fisher or a coon...The dogs and I were on multiple tours last night and it did not return. It is just a matter of time though. Too bad these are somewhat endangered...now I know why. I did not catch anything in the big trap except for one of my Khaki's at about 1 am--and I did not check the smaller trap. I just wish I understood why it just killed so many...There was a pattern of bruising on one side of each carcass near the ribs--and some had bites along the spine. There was not a lot of blood and no heads or entrails other than the 2-3 it did eat.
RIP Big Red( my Flock Matriarch) Nancy, Cinnamon, Triscuit, Bellababy, Snowball, and the many others who lost their lives...I lost all of my Salmon Faverolle Bantams, All but 3 of my Silkies,(all the hens), All but one of my Cornish X's, A baby duck, a Turkey poult ( a Royal Palm Jake who was just starting to strut), My baby buff brahmas, Marans, some RIR juveniles and some young Cockerels without spurs. C&J your Black and Buff Orps were trained well--cause they all made it...

Today I try to make sense of it all.--oh yeah and clean up.

Called the Game Commission for help...the county warden will be paying me a visit to try to determine what did this and he will probably take back a carcass or two to test for disease etc.

 

[wilds of pa]

Interesting, hopefully they can shed some light.. Remember a fisher is fairly a big size mink type critter 15 lbs and surly up wards..
I'm thinking coon more likely, the birds probably pilled up trying to get away and so damage may have occurred from this as the varmint just had its way with them..

I'm glad you have some birds left & it didn't get them all. I'm sure some of those are in shock at this point.. give lots of treats to the survivor to help them snap out of this..

Hopefully the critter was just passing through your area and kept moving on.
a few years back i used to loose a few pheasants every spring until i finally caught a mink in a trap that one spring and it hasn't happened again. that was about 5 years ago., But Ive learned to keep traps set 24-7-360 now..

Charlie