JJandtheBoys
Chirping
- Oct 26, 2020
- 46
- 45
- 94
I am seeking expert advice from all of you!
This week, on consecutive days - DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS - my only two adult silkies were killed. They were found in a nesting box within their Snaplock coop (same box - but one on Sunday, one on Monday). They were completely intact with no signs of trauma to their faces, crops backs or legs - not even trauma on their bellies They were however completely hollowed out from their bottoms up to their rib cages. They each were open from between their legs. Their body cavities were empty, but their bodies were intact, if that makes sense.
I am trying to figure out what killed them and how to address this issue. Weasels? But I've never seen a weasel around here (we do live on a lake and woods). Could a rat hollow out a silkie?
We live in McKinney, TX - north of Dallas. Flock of 15-20 comprised mostly of standard size chickens and few bantams.
We have an enclosed chicken yard with 6' tall walls of chicken wire. Bottom of the yard is wrapped in hardware cloth (buried about 10"). Top is secured with a net. The chickens are not free-ranging for now. Inside the yard, there is ALSO a walk-in steel pen - door open during the day. Feeding into the walk-in pen, there are two Snaplock Coops - one on the ground, and one on stilts and the pop doors remain open during the day. The yard is not open during the day. We have been keeping them enclosed because of the eagles and hawks that have been nesting nearby. Our yard/coop setup would preclude any large predators (racoons, for example).
We found a hole/tunnel under one of pavers that supports the corner of one of the coops. For now, we are setting a small trap at night and are keeping the coop where the kills happened CLOSED during the day.
Thank you, in advance, for our help! Happy to answer follow-up questions if it might shed more light on the subject.
This week, on consecutive days - DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS - my only two adult silkies were killed. They were found in a nesting box within their Snaplock coop (same box - but one on Sunday, one on Monday). They were completely intact with no signs of trauma to their faces, crops backs or legs - not even trauma on their bellies They were however completely hollowed out from their bottoms up to their rib cages. They each were open from between their legs. Their body cavities were empty, but their bodies were intact, if that makes sense.
I am trying to figure out what killed them and how to address this issue. Weasels? But I've never seen a weasel around here (we do live on a lake and woods). Could a rat hollow out a silkie?
We live in McKinney, TX - north of Dallas. Flock of 15-20 comprised mostly of standard size chickens and few bantams.
We have an enclosed chicken yard with 6' tall walls of chicken wire. Bottom of the yard is wrapped in hardware cloth (buried about 10"). Top is secured with a net. The chickens are not free-ranging for now. Inside the yard, there is ALSO a walk-in steel pen - door open during the day. Feeding into the walk-in pen, there are two Snaplock Coops - one on the ground, and one on stilts and the pop doors remain open during the day. The yard is not open during the day. We have been keeping them enclosed because of the eagles and hawks that have been nesting nearby. Our yard/coop setup would preclude any large predators (racoons, for example).
We found a hole/tunnel under one of pavers that supports the corner of one of the coops. For now, we are setting a small trap at night and are keeping the coop where the kills happened CLOSED during the day.
Thank you, in advance, for our help! Happy to answer follow-up questions if it might shed more light on the subject.
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