At a Loss...

[CPlacht74]

Well my happy flock of 12 is now 10. I have lost 2 pullets in 1 week. Both times the only thing left behind were feathers for both, and beak of one and foot of the other. In both instances none of the other birds were touched. At first I thought it was a hawk so I made improvements on the roof of my run. 2nd time - other than a minor small scrapping of dirt, I can't tell you how whatever it was got in!! Both times it has been daytime. Any ideas on what predator I'm dealing with??? I am currently sinking metal plates along the outside of my run about 6-8 inches down.....

 

[Gray Farms]

Sounds like a fox to me.

 

[Cyprus]

Sounds like a fox to me.

Agree

 

[CPlacht74]

I have spotted a small one in our neighborhood ( I say neighborhood but we are all 5+ acres)... the area I saw the dirt scraped was so small. Will the metal plates help??

 

[roosterhavoc]

I have spotted a small one in our neighborhood ( I say neighborhood but we are all 5+ acres)... the area I saw the dirt scraped was so small. Will the metal plates help??

Without a picture of your setup it’s a guess at best. Nobody will know.

 

[CPlacht74]

Ok, I will take some. Thank you!

 

[Gray Farms]

If you bury metal about 12-18 inches into the ground all the way around the coop and run that should keep anything from digging in. The run also needs a secure top to keep flying/climbing/jumping predators out.

 

[CPlacht74]

It had a secure top. But we are re-enforcing that as well. It will be Fort Knox...Thank you everyone!

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

The foxes have been awful this year. I lost a lot of birds before I figured out the culprit and stopped letting them out to free range -- the fox would take them right under my nose!! Literally, like I'm standing there watching the birds and she would come and snag one from the edge of the flock and run into the woods with it. Can you run electrified poultry netting around your setup? A fox could dig under it but I think they are really wary about the electricity...mine have not attempted to dig under my fence. It's only the hens that fly over that got taken, once I stopped free ranging.

 

[CPlacht74]

The foxes have been awful this year. I lost a lot of birds before I figured out the culprit and stopped letting them out to free range -- the fox would take them right under my nose!! Literally, like I'm standing there watching the birds and she would come and snag one from the edge of the flock and run into the woods with it. Can you run electrified poultry netting around your setup? A fox could dig under it but I think they are really wary about the electricity...mine have not attempted to dig under my fence. It's only the hens that fly over that got taken, once I stopped free ranging.

Thank you! It's really got me upset. One of the ones that was swiped/attacked was a polish crested that was a roo and I reallllllly loved him Thank you for the advice!