This devastated my flock of 19.. ESP since 3 of the confirmed dead were my roosters. My protection is gone . There are feathers everywhere and 4 chickens with snapped necks it seems (no other signs of trauma except my poor Marans had all his tail feathers pulled out). My gorgeous BLR Wyandotte roo was completely torn apart whatever got them had the ability to snap necks, get over a 5 foot fence or fit through/under small holes, and buried two of the chickens under leaves for later? any ideas?
I am sorry for your loss. That sounds exactly like the hawk that got my only rooster and my only broody 2 days after Christmas. I caught him in the act, that's how I knew it was a hawk. They tend to kill as much as possible and either stack some or hide some. When they are ready they fly off with them. The missing feathers would have been the hawk plucking them. I don't know why but they like to pluck one thigh and the vent area. Hardware stores sell deer/bird netting pretty cheap that you can put up ($11-$13). It blends in real well so it is not an eyesore and one roll is 7'X100'. People put it on trees and over gardens to prevent birds from eating them. Here is a link to what I am talking about: http://www.lowes.com/pd_379251-304-...&pl=1¤tURL=?Ntt=bird+netting&facetInfo= The brand doesn't matter they are all the same at that size and any hardware store will have some sort of off brand in their garden department.
Sorry for your loss. Sounds more like a fox or coyote to me... quick kills and then hiding the remains. Its always hard to be sure until you catch the culprit in the act. Other possibilities to consider - a dog? Maybe even a bobcat depending on where you live. My experience with hawks is that they will eat part or most of a bird and leave a ring of feathers around the carcass... they pluck the feathers when feeding. I think it would be very unlikely that a hawk would bury any remains.
Sorry for your loss how old were your birds? I say ya got a canine of some kind getting your birds, hawks don't cache their kills around here they might drag one under something to eat it later but never seen one burry a bird, don't think they got the equipment to do that, but then my hawk losses are very limited as ,my dogs will take a kill from them if they happen to get a lucky strike. I have a coydog and he can scale a 6 foot fence no problem at all.
Thank u all for the replies. I am devastated to have lost my sweet and gorgeous barnavelder roo and a Marans roo I had tamed. I raised them all from hatch and was a little too attached to them . We think it was a small dog or a cat as it didn't bother our two young goats, and the fact that it buried half of them. My poor Patriot was completely torn apart, nothing left...and he was a big boy...so whatever it was had a big enough stomach to eat a large roo with no other evidence than a wing and feathers. Needless to say my chickens will be kept in their run today and my Lab Roxy will be kept outside while I'm at work. Such a shame as they free-roamed my half acre for 8 months
