A daytime attack! By what?

[andreanar]

Went to close my coop this eve. Run and poles all knocked down, feathers everywhere and little pullets gone. I found 9, but 1 is still missing. She's the biggest one. No blood anywhere, this happened in broad daylight. I see where the thing crashed thru the netting to get in and crashed thru the other side to get out. I also see a path in the grass where it went around and around the coop looking to get in. All 9 that i found are unhurt, besides a few that had feathers pulled out. I'm in upstate NY. Chicks are all between 9-13 weeks old.
Funny, weird thing is.... both coop doors were shut, and 1 chick was inside coop. But i left both doors wide open. What could have done this? Dog? Please help.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Dogs tend to kill until everything is dead. I would suspect a coyote which will return, and another suspect would be a fox, both take chickens elsewhere to eat them.

 

[andreanar]

Dogs tend to kill until everything is dead. I would suspect a coyote which will return, and another suspect would be a fox, both take chickens elsewhere to eat them.

There were feathers of 4 different chicks all over the ground, but only 1 missing. The coop is 40 feet from the house. I didn't think fox or coyote would come up that close, especially in daylight. It's really bothering me that the coop doors were closed. Hmm

 

[Folly's place]

I also think fox or coyote. Whoever it is, return visits are guaranteed, so I hope your birds are in a safe place right now, and everything is reinforced tomorrow. Live traps might help, and/ or a game cam. Good luck, Mary

 

[andreanar]

They are all in the coop. Its reinforced with hardware cloth. They seem traumatized and all their crops were empty, unheard of at 8pm! I'm expecting the thing to come back for more. I'm keeping the girls inside the coop for a few days while i work out what to do about the run. I like to free range, but dang, this just freaked me out.

 

[andreanar]

Going out to check the girls and try to fix my run. I'm nervous that I'm going to open the coop door and find birds dead from injuries that I couldn't see last night. Wish me luck.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A bit late, but hopefully they are all okay.

 

[azygous]

Most predators don't care if it's day or night or if there's a flood light lighting up the area. When they want your chickens, they will have them if your infrastructure is permitting.

Also, foxes and bobcats are very agile climbers, scaling fences with ease.

Electric hot wire protects the best of any deterrent there is. It's worth the modest investment and it's not difficult to install.

 

[Folly's place]

x2 on electric! Electrified poultry netting is great, or multiple strands of hot tape or wire. Premier1supplies.com is a great resource for products and information, online, on the phone, and catalog. Mary

 

[andreanar]

x2 on electric! Electrified poultry netting is great, or multiple strands of hot tape or wire. Premier1supplies.com is a great resource for products and information, online, on the phone, and catalog. Mary

I didn't know there was electrified netting! Thank you, I'm going to check out the site you suggested.

The pullets were all fine today. Very nervous, but ok. Whewww. Its def my fault for being complacent. Weve never had a predator issue, but this is our first time having chickens at this residence. The coop was just moved there and because of wet ground, we weren't able to place it where its eventually going. Knowing that it still has to be moved, I just set up an area temporarily to get them on ground.
I think it was a dog for these reasons (and its human was on the scene at some point)
-Feathers were pulled from 3 different birds. I'm thinking if a fox or coyote got close enough to pull feathers it would have killed, or taken it. Especially if it was hungry enough to come in daylight right up to the house that has a gravel business next door with people and dump trucks constantly in and out.
-The thing circled the coop enough times to leave a trail of mushed down grass. and a footprint in mud that looks dog.
-It looks like the birds were harassed for awhile, chased with feathers pulled out a 5 different areas around the coop. Looks like what my dog would do, loving the chase and grab game.
-Both coop doors were closed with 1 pullet inside, when I left them open. I can see 1 door maybe getting knocked shut during the melee but not both, especially when I wedged one of the doors open under a roof board that's warped. Hence where I think the human came in. Person came upon dog tearing around coop, chasing chickens, sees on girl, sticks her in coop and shuts door. Either sees dead pullet and disposes of its body, or sees no dead pullet and shes just lost.
What do you all think?