Confused what animal took her!

[birdlover]

Hello, everyone. Something took my favorite little bantam hen between 5:30 - 7:30 the other evening. She was in the coop, broody, but the door was open. The feathers I found were outside the coop and I'm thinking she got up and ran and it got her outside. I would say raccoon but doesn't their MO consist of eating its prey there and leaving body parts? I don't see evidence of digging and I don't think a fox could climb the lattice and go over the top, could they? (We have fixed that now, btw). While we were fixing the entrance at the top of the lattice the next day, we found a raccoon around up there! What do you think?

 

[Eggsoteric]

Fox are great climbers. This is the time of year where fox are feeding their kits so, it's not unusual to see them out during daylight hours hunting for food. So sorry about your hen. .

 

[birdlover]

Well, gosh!!! I never would have thought a fox would climb an 8 foot lattice!!! So, do raccoons always leave a "calling card" of parts behind?

 

[Eggsoteric]

Thankfully, I've not had the displeasure of dealing with raccoons, however, I have had to deal with fox and I have found that fox are watchful, smart, quick and quite agile. The only thing I have found that deters them is the poultry net fencing and, even then, if given the opportunity, they'll take advantage of a breach in the system. Best of luck.

 

[birdlover]

Thank you! I need it!

 

[Dani004]

I've lost two to raccoons, two nights in a row. They took one, came back broke the lock and took the another. We moved the remaining hen into the garage the third night, and fixed the lock. would you know it that son of a ***** came back!

Raccoons don't always leave behind parts of the bird. Both times all I found were feathers. I know it's raccoons because of paw prints in mud, and they left paw prints on the white door. **** thumbs! Make sure your other hens are securely locked! They may be back.