We had problems with hawks late fall, but nothing since then. I let me chickens out completely free range, so I expect to lose a few. I have been getting more "flighty" breeds, and they seem to do really well looking out for and avoiding predators. This week, though, we lost one of my dh and kids' favorite hens, a salmon Faverolles. She was very small, though, only about 4 lbs, maybe a little less. She was in the bantam bin, but ended up somewhere between bantam and standard size. Honestly, I am not very uspet about her. We've had someone pecking eggs the last month or so, and I caught her in the act last week. We had at least 4 eggs a day get pecked. Since she disappeared, we've had none. She was going to disappear soon anyway, and I am sort of relieved I didn't have to do it since my dh and kids loved her so much. We also lost a little Pekin duckling and a 3 month old mixed breed pullet. All in the last week. Absolutely no sign of anything. We have a puppy, 3 mos old, and our goats seem to be keeping the coons and possums away. I think if the puppy had done it, there would be bodies strewn about. She chases everything, but I have never seen her hurt any. I'm working on her, but she's only 3 mos old.
I did find a spot under a large oak that had a lot of feathers under it. It's hard to tell if they landed there or the wind blew them there, it's been very windy. Sound like a hawk? Or are the smaller predators not as afraid of my goats as I've been assuming? We also have a lot of stray cats around. I doubt one of those could have taken my 4lb hen, but they certainly could be to blame for the 3 mo old bantam pullet and the 3 week old duckling. I sort of suspect hawk for all 3 though. We have a whole family of redtails that nests in a neighbor's yard.
I did find a spot under a large oak that had a lot of feathers under it. It's hard to tell if they landed there or the wind blew them there, it's been very windy. Sound like a hawk? Or are the smaller predators not as afraid of my goats as I've been assuming? We also have a lot of stray cats around. I doubt one of those could have taken my 4lb hen, but they certainly could be to blame for the 3 mo old bantam pullet and the 3 week old duckling. I sort of suspect hawk for all 3 though. We have a whole family of redtails that nests in a neighbor's yard.
I think I'm going to spend some time down there with a gun. If it is getting into the goat pen and my chickens can get in there, there is not much else I can do. The pen is way too big to chicken proof. The neighbors had told me about the fox last fall, said it had killed small pets in the past, but this is the first sign of it I've seen.
