Any Ideas on WHAT'S killing my chickens?

[Athenasjustice]

I'm sorry - what's the tie cord used for? And sorry for your losses. After the first incident I would have locked everyone up at night. You should get a game cam, they are awesome, and would solve your mystery.

A tie cord is used to keep a rooster within a certain amount of area within a yard. They are used by people who have a large number of roosters to keep them safe among themselves as roosters can be very aggressive and domaneering. They will fight to the death over territory or hens. So, tie cords are used so they can be on the yard without killing each other.

A game cam........never heard of one but will look into getting one! And now, we DO lock everyone up at night!

 

[Athenasjustice]

I have to agree. Everything points to one or more coyotes. They are not uncommon in your neck-of-the-woods.

http://somerset-kentucky.com/local/x1118841187/Howl-About-That

You're right........they are common here! I've even heard them at times. And I even thought of that but Idk.......every time we have had incidences with coyotes, they've NEVER been QUIET........dead quiet. We've KNOWN when they're around so wouldn't I have heard something when I went outside and walked all around? Its possible I suppose. Oh, and the print I saw wasn't like that one. Put another toe beside the top 2 and thats the print I saw. Idk if it was a partial print or what but it had a 3rd toe at the top.

 

[Athenasjustice]

There is a small pack that wanders our corner of the world but they like to yelp and howl at sunset.. The birds are trained to go into the hen house at night and I close their door to keep them safe from the night time predators.. Had a hawk attack a hen and my 2 roosters attacked the hawk when it was on the ground and scared it off.. Now that it is gardening season and because of the hawk we set up 2 scarecrows.. Another neat trick is to drive a piece of pipe a foot or so in the ground and tie a portable radio to it and cover it with a bucket.. Lively music puts vibrations into the ground and will scare off rodents and snakes.. The sound of people talking will scare of pr editors, it keeps the crows and rabbits away from the garden and the hawks seem to be keeping their distance.. A game camera is a good way to identify what it is but if you hang a light in a high place to give you just enough light to target the culprit and give it lead poisoning it give more satisfaction..

Thats a good idea with the music and a bucket!! I just might try that one! OH! We do the lead poisoning thing too. I don't get satisfaction from it......I understand nature and the food chain and everything has to eat. I just don't like em DINING on OUR chickens! IF I have to kill something, I want to be able to eat it myself. Waste not, want not. Ya know? But Idk how tasty a coyote or bobcat would be. Lol!

 

[Athenasjustice]

Bobcat tracks, unless of course it's a young one are considerably larger.

That's what I was thinking.......a young bobcat. Any ideas on how to catch one? Then I would relocate it.

 

[Birdsonghill]

Coyotes or a neighbors dog most likely, possibly a smaller bobcat (usually no claw/nail mark in a walking track). Coyotes usually hunt in pairs or small family units of 3-5 animals, consisting of the parents, this years young and occasionally last years young as well, if females. Lone coyotes are not uncommon, however. Coy dogs and all predictable behaviors are amiss, often. A pair of coyotes will get hold of the ears, one on either side of a dog and run them till exhausted and then kill and sometimes eat them. The predators in the weasel family, tend to kill in a frenzy, when they get in a hen coop! They will kill as many as they can before they get tired. The Shelby County Penal Farm suffered from mink attacks on their large hen houses, back in the 1970's when I assisted them with predator control. Two minks that I trapped for them killed hundreds of birds each over the course of two weeks. Some nights they killed over a hundred birds in one barn! Usually only one or two birds were fed on. They seldom drag off heavy kills very far and tend to eat close to the kill site. Coyotes on the other hand, may kill several animals, but often only one or a few and usually drag off and consume their prey some distance from the kill.