7 dead in 1 night

[minaayindra]

Historically we have not locked up our coop. But we have started since this happened. My worry is because they do free range and this fox is out by them during the day. We do have some traps set, but was curious if i need to look at more than just foxes. Are foxes known for killing multiple via means of biting off their heads? Just thought it was weird the fox would not have taken the whole chicken. But i know i found all that were killed that day, started locking them up at night, and we just found another chicken with no head yesterday. So either this is happening during the day as well, or this was one that maybe we didnt find b4 and it just got dragged out. Im concerned fir them during the daytime now too.

You should always be wary in the daytime, particularly as food becomes harder to find in the fall and winter. I have bears, coyotes, and possums who stroll by frequently. The weasels tend to be out at night, as do the coons and everything else except hawks, but daytime predation is not that unusual.

 

[Trevorusn]

You cannot rule out Groundhogs. We lost three in one night this week. We have A mature female, and every spring she has a litter of one or two then they move on. Groundhogs are vegetarians and do not eat chickens, however we have three dead chickens. one decapitated one buried, and the other was pulled by the head in to one of their tunnels underneath their roosting area but no real signs of injury. I posted pictures on another Thread about this question, and have come to the conclusion that the groundhog feels that the chickens are a threat now that it is time to raise her young. We know it was the groundhog and it's the only thing that makes sense.

If a groundhog killed in defense it would not have pulled a chicken closer to its young. Also would not have taken the time to bury them. All these traits sound of active predation by a mink, possibly more critters, especially with burying, common to save a kill for later consumption.

 

[glassdragonfly]

Raccoons will dig and use tunnels of other animals.We had a raccoon dig under the coop to get in. Dug in in one night! We have a groundhog that will sit right in the middle of our chickens and eat apples with them. Never had a problem.

 

[Rooapalooza]

I had foxes (95% sure) bite off several heads at a time and carry off chickens whole. I've seen them come by frequently in the night but also in the early morning and late evening. The foxes never have never gotten a chicken in the morning, even though a couple times when I went to let chickens out I saw foxes sniffing around the coop. In the evening they once got all the chickens who roosted the lowest. (I was late locking them up). Five had missing heads or innards, two whole chickens were missing.

One time a neighbor called me in the middle of the afternoon to say there was a fox circling my land, but I've never found bodies in the day. Definitely night is the most dangerous time. Hawks and possums hunt during the day but have always taken entire birds from my flock. It isn't worth confining chickens even if I lose one every few months. We have two acres and birds who love to explore every inch.

Chickens are defenseless at night; they can't even see in the dark. Foxes aren't really good climbers so putting their perches up higher would help a lot, as long as they have overhead covering for owls. Something busted into my coop about a year ago and got the chickens who were perched around 3 ft, but all the chickens perched 6 ft up were left alive. Raccoons are wonderful climbers, have functional hands, and are smarter than a toddler. However they aren't great jumpers so height helps there too.

I don't have any experience with weasels but I've heard they are almost never seen. If you think that's it you'll need to do a really thorough inspection for even small gaps.

 

[Peepsi]

Who published the articles that document the deer eating young birds??

Well, gizmodo, for one. Just search google for "deer eating baby birds". You'll learn way more about nature than you ever wanted to know.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/field-cameras-catch-deer-eating-birds-wait-why-do-deer-1689440870

 

[Wimomof2]

I had a fox take a chicken i ran into the woods after it. He dropped it and the head was missing. So it could be the fox.

 

[Chercher72]

Hello, last week we had lost 7 chickens in 1 night. Just their heads were gone. One was outside the coop, the other 6 were found in the coop partially burried under the bedding.

Today, i have seen a fox running around by our coop (middle of the day). Im curious if the fox could be the culprit to our dead chickens, or does it seem like we have more than 1 predator running around right now?

I have never had a weasel take the heads off that many at a time. They drink the blood out of as many as they can and cone back later for the body. If all that happened in one night you most Definately have a family of coons. They take the heads off and come back for the body because they want to take their loot to a safe place to eat it. I have had many mink, weasel and coon attacks and I stand by my opinion you've got a family of coons.

 

[Trevorusn]

Well, gizmodo, for one. Just search google for "deer eating baby birds". You'll learn way more about nature than you ever wanted to know.
https://io9.gizmodo.com/field-cameras-catch-deer-eating-birds-wait-why-do-deer-1689440870

Squirrels, cows, and sheep??? One cow eating 50 chickens??? This article needs more links to these stories of insanity!