Can someone help me??

[doriann]

Well we have lost 4 chickens in the last to days. It is happening in the morning about 4, there are a pile of feathers, but we have found all but 1 of the bodies! The chickens are very torn up. Each morning our dog has gone out to the windows and started barking. This morning I heard him push open the door and thought I heard a cat in heat. Not like a cougar, maybe smaller? I ran out to the deck and saw one of the chickens laying in the yard and heard something run off into the woods. We had shut the coop door last night and it was open, and another hen was in the corner all torn up. It seems to get 2 a night, I know it will be back tonight too

Do you think we have a Bob Cat? We are in Middle NC and surrounded by woods. We have had the birds for 2 years without incident till now. These girls are standard cochins so they are big girls! I could see where it had gotten in the run next to the coop and dug down a little to get to the hen I had brooding on eggs, she was the one in the yard and the eggs were scattered and some eaten. We will be up wit the shot gun tomorrow morning, but I wanted to ask for any suggestions anyone may have. I would really like to know what I am dealing with and if we would be better off to try and trap it. I'll get rid of my chickens before I let them all be slaughtered.
Dori Ann

 

[LarryPQ]

I wish I could help you...perhaps there are some experts out there?

 

[horsejody]

There are a few animals that can make wierd wailing noises, bob cats, foxes, fisher cats (I'm not sure if you have these in your area), feral cats.

 

[sparkles2307]

Sounds like you need to set the alarm for 3:30 and set out with a shotgun and spotlight. I feel bad for you! I hope you get it. I am not an expert but it sounds like a bob cat or fisher to me. If its unlatching your coop door its probably a fisher, they are smart.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

I have had foxes come around at night. Their calls/screams give me the willies! It's always at night and very, very loud. One night it was after my cat. The time has ranged from 10:00pm, 1:00am, 4:00am, and just before 6:00am. Look for a fox sound online -- they sound nothing like you'd expect. I, too, wondered at first if I had a bobcat around until I listened to a few different fox sounds and bobcat sounds. And then I became quick enough to see it. Now that sound can wake me up from a dead sleep!

 

[Cackling Hen]

How about Coyotes?? Do you have those around

 

[exbiologist]

Look at the tracks. That should tell you at least whether it is feline or canine

 

[chick4chicks]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your chickens. Happy hunting.

 

[pslane]

Back when I had a really big flock, we had the same thing happening and we knew it was a bobcat. I got one of those live traps where you put a live chicken in one end and there is no way the predator can really get to the chicken. I reinforced it with more wire to make sure. I felt sorry for the poor little chicken but it had to be done. We must have caught 3 bobcats that way and never lost a chicken to a heart attack or stroke. Just let it go back to the flock in the am.

Good luck

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

We had shut the coop door last night and it was open

That sounds like the work of a coon, assuming it was latched somehow​