Can anyone shed some light, please? Sad, sad day :(

[Howard E]

We know for a fact that a fox is what got all my daughter's birds as it kept coming back to check on the coop long after it had taken all the birds she had. It was common to spot it at all hours of the daytime. A small tuft of feathers was the only clue it left.......aside from that, the birds had simply vanished. My guess is the small tuft of feathers is where the fox stops to kill the bird it has captured, and once it stops struggling, the fox then takes it off somewhere to it's den, which may be some distance away.

 

[JackAubrey]

Welcome to BYC and I am very sorry for your loss. The problem with free range is it provides predators an opportunity. I started out with 3 Silver laced Wyndotts and a Rhode Island red, all hens. I wanted to see if I could manage them. I did really well, but one by one, a raccoon would kill a wyndott. It always happened in the late afternoon. At night, the girls were locked up in the fort. I only have my RR hen left from the original 4 hens, but have bought 4 other RR's and 5 SLW. They free range during the day, and my dog watches them. Raccoons don't like dogs. So far so good, but while I try to remain vigilant, I expect to lose a couple here and there, just the nature of the beast.

 

[flocking nuts]

I'm so sorry! For lack of better words loosing chickens really sucks. We had to bury our light brahma pullet yesterday from a dog attack. While we were home! Like my daughter pointed out I saved 13. Of course it had to be the family favorite, not one of the orphaned cockerels that adopted us. I'm terribly sorry.