Any Trackers/Hunters on the Forum?

[GAchickennewbie]

Took these pics when something went after Tender. Her coop/run have now been moved into the backyard behind a 6' high fence and my dogs can now keep an eye out from inside the house if something gets back there.

Any ideas what it was? I'm thinking dogs, but it jumped onto the run as well, which I found curious behavior for a domestic canine.

 

[akashia26]

a dog or atleast a canid of some sort. can't get a good look at the print. are the claws visible in the print? cats usually don't dig. i thought maybe hogs from the tore up ground, but that's not a hoof print. so not hogs. hope that helps.

 

[GAchickennewbie]

Thank you akashia. Yes, the claws are visible in the print.

When I first saw the ground around the coop, my heart dropped. What isn't in the pics is the scratching on the side of the coop itself. It wanted my girl pretty badly. Even tore off a piece of wood that I found around 5' away from the coop.

We have a leash law, but I've had a few conversations with a few neighbors over the years. They seem to think the law doesn't apply to them.

She's safe from them now at least.

 

[zazouse]

Dog gets my vote

Is your yard fenced to where you could leave your dogs out? i have only had a handfull of dogs come onto my place in the last 35 years because my dogs claim this as their territory and other dogs head their warning.

 

[GAchickennewbie]

Dog gets my vote

Is your yard fenced to where you could leave your dogs out? i have only had a handfull of dogs come onto my place in the last 35 years because my dogs claim this as their territory and other dogs head their warning.

My back yard is fenced and that's where the coop/run is now, but I live in a neighborhood and my dogs are used to being indoors and only being outside for short periods unless we are walking. They can see the coop and hear any distress calls much easier since I moved everything into the backyard and both have laid down their scent around the coop. My male has marked the area around the coop and my female has laid down in several areas around the coop.

 

[Michael Apple]

Electric fencing or netting does a good job repelling ground dwelling predators.

 

[OnceAroundTheBlock]

What was the measurement of the foot print? Do you have bears in your area? Bears can make a wooden chicken coop look like it's made out of paper mache' if they want what's inside bad enough.

 

[GAchickennewbie]

What was the measurement of the foot print? Do you have bears in your area? Bears can make a wooden chicken coop look like it's made out of paper mache' if they want what's inside bad enough.

The footprint was about the size of a 50 pound dog print. There are bears in the area, but they haven't been spotted locally. On average, we hear about a bear sighting 2 or 3 times a year in my county.

 

[blucoondawg]

That clearly isn't a bear track and a bear would have demolished that pen to get the chicken anyways

 

[Gallus Sapien]

That clearly isn't a bear track and a bear would have demolished that pen to get the chicken anyways

Yes, I agree...the print is canine...If the nail impressions in the front of the track point inward it is wild, and if they point outward it is domestic.