8 Chickens just disappeared?

[dianneS]

Four full sized hens and four chicks just disappeared last night. No evidence left behind at all whatsoever? No feathers, no struggle, no nothing? What could it have been?

 

[GA_in_GA]

From the run, the coop, or?

 

[Ridgerunner]

A little more info could help. My thoughts first run to human, especially depending on access.

 

[dianneS]

I thought human too, but the coop door was left open. I'm thinking fox.

Just for the record they weren't my chickens. I have a livestock guardian dog and no problems with preditors anymore. But I've had my fare share in the past and most leave some sort of calling card? Well, except for the fox, he was pretty slick, that's why I got the dog.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A bit more information. With no evidence left behind, it could be a fox, or maybe a fox family being taught how to hunt. Usually one fox won't take a lot, but not all read the manual.

I still think a human is possible, but I would not rule out coyotes or dogs. As much as I dislike raccoons, they usually leave some evidence. But I never rule out raccoons. Did I mention I don't like them?

Dogs will usually leave evidence too, but I recently had a daytime dog attack from some irresponsible pet owner that just dropped them in the country so they could live the good life. I found one dead hen and one pile of feathers (which could have been the leavings of vultures cleaning up a carcass) but the other 6 just totally disappeared without a trace. I could see a feral dog pack taking yours away without leaving much evidence. Like I said, they don't all read the manual.

But with that many cleanly disappearing like that, human still tops my suspect list.

 

[GA_in_GA]

Until you posted coop was was left open, I also thought "human" predator. Sorry for your loss, hope you have some chickens remaining.

 

[dianneS]

They weren't my chickens, I told my friend that my guess would be fox too.

I guessed a possible fox family being taught to hunt too. I had a skunk family get into my coop once, but they just killed and left the bodies behind. The only fox I've ever dealt with never left any evidence.

I'm so thankful for my LGD, I have no worries about preditors.

 

[sourland]

Fox. coyote, bobcat are all 'snatch and run' predators which frequently leave little to no signs of their attack.

 

[chickenpredatorkiller]

I vote raccoon because the same type thing happened to me except it was 1 or 2 chickens a night. I started penning them up in the coop at night and I still lost one. The raccoon climbed up the side of my coop, went through a triangular opening in the top, grabbed a chicken, and got out. Every time I lost a chicken the only thing left behind were feathers. What I think happened to you was, since the door was open, they got out and while out, a raccoon and/or other predators got them.

 

[dainerra]

raccoons and fox are my top 2 guesses