Arizona Chickens

[Diannastarr]

hi you all in AZ im in Bisbee AZ we have cooler temps up this way a mile hi into the mountains it never gets above 85 to 90 up here , but all my life i could never stand to see any animals out in the heat so my dear husband John who has just recently passed away, had put a cooler in the coop for all our girls & boys so all my laying hens lay there eggs in their nice cool coop , other wise they are all out free ranging & or sleeping under the trees & we have several water nipple feeders out in the shade all over for them & they seem happy & are doing pretty good all summer long here in Bisbee

.

 

[FeatherPugs]

hi you all in AZ im in Bisbee AZ we have cooler temps up this way a mile hi into the mountains it never gets above 85 to 90 up here , but all my life i could never stand to see any animals out in the heat so my dear husband John who has just recently passed away, had put a cooler in the coop for all our girls & boys so all my laying hens lay there eggs in their nice cool coop , other wise they are all out free ranging & or sleeping under the trees & we have several water nipple feeders out in the shade all over for them & they seem happy & are doing pretty good all summer long here in Bisbee

.

Hello! Welcome and it sounds like you have a wonderful set up! I have always loved Bisbee and often just drive around "looking" - not as much lately but was always on my to go places when I was way toooooooo hot here outside Eloy/Casa Grande!

 

[BlueBaby]

hi you all in AZ im in Bisbee AZ we have cooler temps up this way a mile hi into the mountains it never gets above 85 to 90 up here , but all my life i could never stand to see any animals out in the heat so my dear husband John who has just recently passed away, had put a cooler in the coop for all our girls & boys so all my laying hens lay there eggs in their nice cool coop , other wise they are all out free ranging & or sleeping under the trees & we have several water nipple feeders out in the shade all over for them & they seem happy & are doing pretty good all summer long here in Bisbee

.

Hi, Dianna! How is the hatching going with your broody sitting on the Hupp Farm Australorp hen's egg's? Some of my Kurt Australorp hen's egg's here are getting big enough to hatch out now. These eggs would hatch out the light blue and splash. I still need some more of the black girls, and an outside blue roo not closely related to mine. Want to trade hatching eggs or chicks?

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

OK, so in my eternal quest to know what my chicks need for their nutrition requirements (I know the companies have that figured out, but that doesn't help my curiosity) I came across this: http://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=1 It's the hy-line redbook which is generally applicable to their lines of commercial layers. I figure, some of its knowledge would carry over to other breeds? At least enough to help give a better idea of things. They have contained a full system. Nothing else, potential resource if ever needed so figured I'd share.

 

[Banaynaychicken]

The other day my 12 week old broody-raised pullet disappeared. She had begun spending a lot of time away from her mother. I figured the local coopers hawk got her.

Today I went into the hoop coop and discovered a neat pile of dove feathers with a bloody but otherwise cleaned-out dove skull. No other body parts. Just the top part of the skull. No skin or brains or anything. Just bone and a smear of blood. Whatever killed that dove either ate everything but the skull right there in the coop, or it surgically removed the skull, plucked most of the feathers, and took off with the rest of the carcass. It killed the dove without much struggle because the feathers were in a neat pile in the middle of the coop. If there had been a struggle the feathers would have been everywhere.

Trying to figure out what kind of predator I'm dealing with. The only access to the coop was through the chicken pop door. We have a neighborhood cat who has been hanging around the yard, and the coopers hawk visits several times a day. In the past I have had loose dogs kill birds in that coop. Thought my new fencing would have eliminated most dogs, but maybe one has figured out how to get through. The fencing wouldn't stop a cat. Or a hawk. Or something else I haven't thought of.

Any ideas what predator I might have?

The other day my 12 week old broody-raised pullet disappeared. She had begun spending a lot of time away from her mother. I figured the local coopers hawk got her.

Today I went into the hoop coop and discovered a neat pile of dove feathers with a bloody but otherwise cleaned-out dove skull. No other body parts. Just the top part of the skull. No skin or brains or anything. Just bone and a smear of blood. Whatever killed that dove either ate everything but the skull right there in the coop, or it surgically removed the skull, plucked most of the feathers, and took off with the rest of the carcass. It killed the dove without much struggle because the feathers were in a neat pile in the middle of the coop. If there had been a struggle the feathers would have been everywhere.

Trying to figure out what kind of predator I'm dealing with. The only access to the coop was through the chicken pop door. We have a neighborhood cat who has been hanging around the yard, and the coopers hawk visits several times a day. In the past I have had loose dogs kill birds in that coop. Thought my new fencing would have eliminated most dogs, but maybe one has figured out how to get through. The fencing wouldn't stop a cat. Or a hawk. Or something else I haven't thought of.

Any ideas what predator I might have?

Cats are very precise about how they eat... I wouldnt be surprised if it left the skull because it is too hard to digest/chew but then the cleanlinesss of the skull......... makes me think raccoon.

Racoons would pick all the tid bits out with their little fingers and leave the skull because, again, too hard to chew and a pointy beak going down and coming out both sound relatively painful......

either way, a large trap with some meat in it is going to be your best to catch this predator.

hope thuis helps and you find the culprit!

 

[BlueBaby]

I thought that I would show a new pic of mine that was just taken today. The 2 Splashes and the Blue on the left are from the eggs I got from Kurt (Rattlesnake Ridge). The other 3 pullets on the left I bought from Chase, who got his from Chet (Hupp Farms). It is so hard to get a good pic with all of them in, because they don't like to stand still.

 

[MagicChicken]

Follow up to the predator situation:

Day 1: 12 week old pullet missing. No remains on site. Just gone.

Day 3: Pile of dove feathers and a bloody but otherwise clean dove skull inside hoop coop. No other remains.

Day 5 (mid afternoon): Three dead doves inside hoop coop. One was just a neat pile of feathers with no other remains. One was eaten except for the head, which had all its feathers on it still. The third was missing some feathers from its back and had a small puncture wound, but had not been eaten. Apparently the predator enters via the chicken pop door, which is also how the doves get in there.

Day 5 (hour after sunset): Heard a brief squawking and some flapping from the back yard. Grabbed an LED headlamp and ran out to look. Found an adult chicken dying near the back gate, with only a small amount of blood and no obvious missing feathers. It had been taken from its roost in the hoop coop. Whatever dropped it was either having trouble getting the carcass over/through the fence/gate, or dropped it and ran because I came out of the house. Probably the latter. I looked up and saw a pair of orange eyes watching me from the neighbor's yard on the other side of the gate. Whatever it was did not look away from my headlight. It only moved when I moved forward. Then it retreated a few feet, stopped and watched me again. We repeated that maneuver several times. I couldn't get close enough to see any outline so I don't know what it was, but it appeared to be alone and was completely stealthy. No sound when it moved. I will check that area for tracks in the morning.

Still trying to figure out what it is. Wondering if it's a fox because it would be the right size, there was no sign of disturbance in the coop, there was little damage to the bird, and whatever it is was big enough to cart off a 5-6 lb. hen. Could be a bobcat but I thought bobcat eyes usually shine green, not orange. We have had bobcat in the area in the past. We also have coyotes but this was a solitary animal.

DesertChic suggested coatimundi, but I'm in the middle of a creosote flat. It's not typical coati territory. Someone else suggested badger, which is possible but I've not seen any signs of digging in the area. This chicken was taken off its roost tonight, about 3' off the ground, and there was very little commotion from the other coop residents when it happened. So I'm skeptical of the badger idea but haven't ruled it out. Don't know enough about how they typically kill/eat their prey. But the kill/carry off pattern seems to fit what I've read about foxes pretty well. Never seen a fox around here, either, but they are found in creosote flats. So it could be one.

In the meantime, if this keeps up I may not have to worry about culling the flock. The predators are doing it for me. Sigh.

 

[cavemanrich]

I have a feeling its a bobcat. Don't think a fox would hang around and keep looking at you.

Sorry for your losses

 

[MagicChicken]

I have a feeling its a bobcat. Don't think a fox would hang around and keep looking at you.

Sorry for your losses

If it was hungry it might have been hoping I would go away so it could go back and get the chicken it dropped. But yeah, a bobcat seems more likely. It's just that I've never seen a cat with orange eye shine. Then again, I'm not sure I've ever seen a bobcat's eye shine so who knows?

 

[Banaynaychicken]

Follow up to the predator situation:

Day 1: 12 week old pullet missing. No remains on site. Just gone.

Day 3: Pile of dove feathers and a bloody but otherwise clean dove skull inside hoop coop. No other remains.

Day 5 (mid afternoon): Three dead doves inside hoop coop. One was just a neat pile of feathers with no other remains. One was eaten except for the head, which had all its feathers on it still. The third was missing some feathers from its back and had a small puncture wound, but had not been eaten. Apparently the predator enters via the chicken pop door, which is also how the doves get in there.

Day 5 (hour after sunset): Heard a brief squawking and some flapping from the back yard. Grabbed an LED headlamp and ran out to look. Found an adult chicken dying near the back gate, with only a small amount of blood and no obvious missing feathers. It had been taken from its roost in the hoop coop. Whatever dropped it was either having trouble getting the carcass over/through the fence/gate, or dropped it and ran because I came out of the house. Probably the latter. I looked up and saw a pair of orange eyes watching me from the neighbor's yard on the other side of the gate. Whatever it was did not look away from my headlight. It only moved when I moved forward. Then it retreated a few feet, stopped and watched me again. We repeated that maneuver several times. I couldn't get close enough to see any outline so I don't know what it was, but it appeared to be alone and was completely stealthy. No sound when it moved. I will check that area for tracks in the morning.

Still trying to figure out what it is. Wondering if it's a fox because it would be the right size, there was no sign of disturbance in the coop, there was little damage to the bird, and whatever it is was big enough to cart off a 5-6 lb. hen. Could be a bobcat but I thought bobcat eyes usually shine green, not orange. We have had bobcat in the area in the past. We also have coyotes but this was a solitary animal.

DesertChic suggested coatimundi, but I'm in the middle of a creosote flat. It's not typical coati territory. Someone else suggested badger, which is possible but I've not seen any signs of digging in the area. This chicken was taken off its roost tonight, about 3' off the ground, and there was very little commotion from the other coop residents when it happened. So I'm skeptical of the badger idea but haven't ruled it out. Don't know enough about how they typically kill/eat their prey. But the kill/carry off pattern seems to fit what I've read about foxes pretty well. Never seen a fox around here, either, but they are found in creosote flats. So it could be one.

In the meantime, if this keeps up I may not have to worry about culling the flock. The predators are doing it for me. Sigh.

Bobcat for real.

(They do happen to ave many different eye colors, copper is especially common and with your little LED, would shine an amber flamey color)