Cannibal chickens update

[Jrios58]

Well whoever said 'predator' on my original post was right- the day after Bucky died, 2 more were dead. It was real obvious, stuff knocked around, blood everywhere. Plus the survivors were scared and very quiet. Even today they are still subdued. We found a small gap up high by the tube feeders. So obviously this is something that can climb. Didn't manage to catch it last night, the trap malfunctioned. But he didn't kill any more hens! Maybe tonight we'll catch him. What makes me the maddest is this animal didn't even eat the 2nd two, just slaughtered them. Anyway, live and learn!

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

Do you have weasels where you live? Sounds weasely.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Good luck with catching him! I am so sorry about the other hens. If I remember correctly you still have a few left right? My sincerest condolences. Can you brood more once you block off the entry point and kill the murderer?

 

[Jrios58]

Do you have weasels where you live? Sounds weasely.

I think there are mink but more in east

Good luck with catching him! I am so sorry about the other hens. If I remember correctly you still have a few left right? My sincerest condolences. Can you brood more once you block off the entry point and kill the murderer?

Yes i have 9 left. The predator tried to get in last night, but couldn't, and ate the cat food in the trap but the trap caught on the can and didn't close. Hopefully tonight we'll catch him. I will probably not get anymore just yet, 12 was more than i wanted to end up with. I thought I'd lose some baby chicks when i first got them but even the cross beaked one grew up fat and healthy. Poor Bucky- the only one i could identify and the friendliest too. And the first to go.

 

[Jrios58]

Do you have weasels where you live? Sounds weasely.

Sorry, my reply got messed up. I just googled it and we do have weasels all over Texas except in the panhandle. We were thinking raccoon, but it wasn't a big opening. Hopefully we'll find out tonight.

 

[ZephyrCoveFarms]

Sorry, my reply got messed up. I just googled it and we do have weasels all over Texas except in the panhandle. We were thinking raccoon, but it wasn't a big opening. Hopefully we'll find out tonight.

I didn’t check to see where you live! I’m in south Texas. Raccoons will kill for fun and skunks will just eat the heads off. I’ve killed both after they killed hens then fixed the area they were digging in under my coop to get into the run.

 

[Jrios58]

I didn’t check to see where you live! I’m in south Texas. Raccoons will kill for fun and skunks will just eat the heads off. I’ve killed both after they killed hens then fixed the area they were digging in under my coop to get into the run.

At least our coop is tight- it's basically a box with windows covered with hardware cloth. Tonight i stuck small boards in each door handle, probably overkill, since mostly the doors stick real bad because of the humidity. They also are latched. They have a small enclosure that sticks out from around one end of the coop, and it's got hardware cloth most of the way up (buried in the ground). Chickenwire up high. My husband had to slightly cut back the chicken wire for feeding tubes, i didn't think anything could get through that, plus we put up a tarp to block the rain on the west side where the feeders are. It went in under the tarp and in that small gap. Twice. So last night he'd tried it again, because the top of the tarp was knocked down. I don't like locking them in the coop since they like to come out and eat, but i will be for awhile.

 

[wf1992]

Our house came with chickens the previous owners left here, and we knew nothing. The run wasn't completely enclosed and the chickens were picked off by various predators over our first winter, which led to research, game cams & trapping. And rebuilding the whole run.

Our skunks will take a dead chicken, but not generally barge in and kill them. Coyotes got a couple who didn't go in to roost, but thankfully they're too big to get in the house. Coyotes left nothing behind but blood & feathers. Racoons marched into the coop and took out 1-2 at a time, and ate necks & some innards, but the carcasses were left behind in the run. They also came back and killed one chicken while I was dropping my kids at school one morning, so once they found the coop, they didn't even stick to night time. I read weasels can kill repeatedly, for fun, and not bother eating them.

Once predators have discovered them, they'll be back, so locking them in for a while is certainly a good call.

Good luck!! I know it's awful knowing they're out there alone and not knowing how to protect them.

 

[3KillerBs]

You might consider adding some hot wires to your layers of protection.

I was very much intimidated by electric fence at first, but discovered that it's really quite easy to deal with.