Coyote or?

[highcountrychickens]

Yup - that sounds like a fox or a hawk to me - I lost three one day to a fox - sounded exactly the same as your situation. He had the fourth in his mouth when I ran out - he dropped her and took off.
We fixed it with a havaheart trap and a trip.

Sooo sorry this is happening - hope you can sort it out and not lose any more.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I wish this site discussed hawks as well as everything else. My guess is a fox.

http://osuextra.okstate.edu/pdfs/F-8204web.pdf

 

[dacasodivine]

I don't know if it's a fox or a hawk. I have seen more hawks flying overhead in the last couple months. It could be both? Most of the time they disappear one at a time but not usually every day. It might be several days or a week before another disappears.

I did have 2 roosters and a hen disappear at the same time about a month ago. That was the only time I found any feathers and it was from the hen. That was all the way at the back of my pasture. So, that could have been a fox, coyote, hawks, or dogs.

We got the fence for their run back up. That will keep them out of the pasture since it faces the pasture. The dry lot is behind it and has trees and other stuff for shade and hiding so I think they'll be okay there.

Thanks all for the information.

 

[dacasodivine]

Oh, yeah, hawks. I was looking out the back door and saw 7 flying over my pasture. They would go over the field next to us and the pasture behind us but would come back and circle my pasture.

Chickens are not the brightest creatures. They still have plenty of area to roam but a couple found they could squeeze under the gate so I'll have to shore that up.

 

[Lextextrapper]

Without scouting the area myself it would be hard to say with any accuracy and that goes with everyone venturing a guess. All of the culprits mentioned are definite possibilities; however, based on my experience as a predator control trapper I would have to throw bobcats into the mix too.

I've personally witnessed bobcats coming up during broad daylight and swiping a chicken. Bobcats are very stealthy too and blend in very well to remain hidden.

 

[dacasodivine]

I lost another one today. This is getting rediculous. I had not fixed the gate yet so that they couldn't get under, so she was in the pasture. I was keeping a lookout for hawks so I could try and get them in if needed. Whatever it was, wasn't a hawk.

There were quite a few feathers in one area and a short trail of feathers to the woods. The underbrush there is really thick so I couldn't see anything beyond the fence.

There is already 2 strands of hot wire there. We need to clear the fence line and add a couple more strands down low. First though, fix the fence and gates so they can't get into the pasture.

 

[Blueline29]

My vote goes to coyotes, the worthless pieces of %$@#, at least in the instance you found feathers. I lost my 2nd-favorite rooster today to them, and MAN, did he put up a fight. I think I found 3 separate piles of feathers, one of which looked big enough to reconstruct an entire chicken. Needless to say, I will be learning how to use my dad's rifle this weekend and plan on spending a LOT of time at their house, wasting any coyotes I may see.

For the no-feathers times, I'd guess hawks. We've lost a lot of chickens to them and rarely find much evidence, if any.

 

[brodysam]

*Just read that you said it definitely wasn't a hawk. I'm sorry you're losing your chickens. It was a hawk that got mine, but regardless of the predator species, I know how frustrating it can be.

Bird of prey...we have a huge hawk that has been preying on ours. Our chickens/ducks are penned, but I had some escapees and the hawk got some of them. I found feathers from the last one she got and I've actually seen her circling the pasture and I hear her coming. If it is during the day, most likely its hawk or eagle. If at night, then owls are really good predators too. The first clue I had that it was a bird of prey was the fact that there were no tracks at all in the dirt, but my birds were going missing.

 

[dacasodivine]

It's possible it's both hawks and coyotes. Tomorrow they will stay in their run while we make the horse yard chicken proof. There's not much shade in the chicken yard so I would feel guilty keeping them there all the time. They really enjoy the shade of the trees in the middle of the day in the horse yard. It's big enough they shouldn't try too hard to get into the pasture.

Not much would leave tracks in my pasture. Where there is bare ground, it's rock hard. Nothing loose to leave a print in.

 

[Lextextrapper]

Thick brush, daytime...that equals bobcat.