Another chicken killed

[jazzyb]

This morning around 930 I heard loud squawking and ran out to find my Rosie nothing but feathers behind the shed. This is the second time this has happened. About a month ago I lost Dixie my adorable black Silkie. I have a very large fenced backyard and rarely see any wildlife come through. I feel like it must be a fox or cat because of all the feathers, wouldn't a hawk just fly away with them? I'm so sad as of course I consider all my animals part of the family. We have an Austin Cattle dog maybe I will keep him my outside for the chickens protection in the morning. He is not very tough but barks up a storm. Maybe that will work. This chicken keeping thing has so many happy moments but the losses are soooo painfull

 

[peeper89]

that so sad. i bet it fox or coyte somthing big to carry chick away

u have trail cam u can put up to see what it is would be good

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I'm sorry that happened to you, it's very difficult to deal with losses like that because they're unexpected and you don't know if there was any pain involved. I leave my dogs outside with my chickens when they're free ranging, and it seems to help. You can also try putting up a scarecrow, some shiny tins, etc. I know this might be "TMI", but I also urinate along the fence line, which encourages my dogs to do the same, and it seems to help keep the ground predators at bay.

I hope you're able to get to the bottom of it soon, and again, sorry for your loss.

 

[Zoomie]

I just wanted to say, wow, I'm really sorry, that is so sad...

However, a hawk can not fly off with your chicken. A really big female red tailed hawk weighs three pounds!! They look a lot bigger than that, don't they? But they do not weigh that much. It is impossible for a 3 pound hawk to pick up and fly away with a chicken (unless it's a tiny chick). Physics are just against it. If a hawk had killed the chicken (and they can- make no mistake there) they would have had to eat it on the ground, so you would have seen the dead chicken.

This is most likely a canid - dog, fox or coyote. These animals are quick and cunning. Your dog might help, but remember he's got to sleep, eat, can't be with every chicken all the time. Since you have a fenced yard, you could also try electric poultry netting which is very effective agains canids. This would work even if your dog was asleep or inside or on the other side of the yard etc.

 

[jazzyb]

Thanks for the info. I'll look into the netting.