6 in one night

[andujar9464]

I had 6 chickens gone in a night. 1 two year old New Hampshire, a 4 pound meat bird, 2 seven week old barred rocks and my two silver Ameraucana also seven weeks old. All completely gone save for some feathers except one my favorite Ameraucana. That one was just decapitated and the head left outside the fence. Any ideas on what did it i need to know what to bait for.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I had 6 chickens gone in a night. 1 two year old New Hampshire, a 4 pound meat bird, 2 seven week old barred rocks and my two silver Ameraucana also seven weeks old. All completely gone save for some feathers except one my favorite Ameraucana. That one was just decapitated and the head left outside the fence. Any ideas on what did it i need to know what to bait for.

We would need to see photos of where the birds were taken from to even begin to answer that for you. This will enable us to have a better understanding of just how secure, or insecure, the birds were and which of the common predators could have gotten to them.
That said - rather than worrying about ID'ing the predator to be able to bait for it you need to be considering how to fortify your coop/run to prevent a future loss. Eliminating this one predator may make you feel better in the short term, but will do nothing to protect from the next one that will come along. The big picture fix is to change the setup.

 

[bigbruce]

Dogs or coyotes.had to be something big enough to carry them away

 

[andujar9464]

thanks for the reply i cleaned up the mess and secured the hole where it pulled up my fence to drag them out. i have a 100ft by 100 ft pig wire fence with 2 coops inside buried 6 inches down except for by the door for obvious reasons. That's where it got in through. its secure now. You are right getting that one predator will only make me feel better short term. I could use that right now though.

 

[andujar9464]

@ bigbruce thx man but i ruled that one out opening was 6" by 6" too small for a coyote barely large enough for the hens it took.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

@ bigbruce thx man but i ruled that one out opening was 6" by 6" too small for a coyote barely large enough for the hens it took.

You are severely underestimating the predator that an go through a 6x6 opening.

 

[andujar9464]

ill keep that in mind ill set a couple foothold traps just in case. cant be too careful.