Coyote or Raccoon?

[LavendarFeather]

Ah, sorry about the buff cochin... yes, I already miss my rooster. I had a hen to match him, and would have loved to see some little lavender chicks this spring. But more than that, he was doing his job. I have a bunch of cockerels, so in another month or so I should have a new "man on the farm." But for now, it definitely feels like something's missing.

Wanted to let everyone know, it was a coyote for sure. Two days after it happened, I saw the a lone coyote cruising through my yard, down through my neighbors, then back up my driveway and over the hill, shortly before 11 a.m.

 

[sourland]

The defecation at the kill site after feeding is fairly typical of both coyote and fox. Good luck at persuading that coyote to stay away. He will continue to check out your set up.

 

[LavendarFeather]

Thanks, it's going to take some diligence. The birds are safe in their runs, but they are used to running around loose during the day. I'm no longer comfortable doing that unless I'm out there with them, and even then I don't like it because they like to wander all over the place. I'm hoping to get some perimeter fencing so that I can let my dogs out, but they are not chicken-safe yet, so it could be awhile....

 

[chiefslogan]

We've had fox problems. It got one of our old hens once. There were tons of feather. And some feces nearby. Your problem might be fox.

 

[NikkiScatch]

What about foxes and owls? We have them all over the place at night. Two of our three barred rocks were killed within two days of each other. It was a horrifying crime scene to discover. One of them looked sick for a while i thought maybe she had died from whatever disease she had. I thought it was odd seeing her all eaten up though because she would've been just dead. The next day the same thing happened to the 2nd chicken. We knew something kept getting in our yard. it was strange since it was daylight maybe around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. My mom had let them out early in the morning but it was always after dawn. We had to send our third chicken to my aunts house a few towns south of here. So far she's been doing well with my aunts other two chickens which are Americana's

 

[Pathfinders]

We use electric poultry netting too, like it a lot. Between that and our Anatolian Shepherd Dog, most of the larger predators are kept at bay. The smaller ones can slip through the netting if the battery isn't working, but we close up at night (which reminds me, I should go do that now!)

I concur though, sounds like some sort of canid.

 

[JanetS]

Put up a game camera and you'll know for sure. Sorry to hear about your rooster. We lost a hen to a bobcat. We expanded our run
because our girls will not longer be free ranging.