Coyotes or Wild Dogs? Racoons?

[Boyd]

The last couple of days I've been losing chickens. It started when I finally started penning them up at night. I heard a squaking went out in the middle of the night and didn't see anything. Figured they were being testy. In the morning I was missing 3 chickens, I only found one dead. It looked chewed around the eyes and legs. That left me with 7. This morning I went out to let my Jack Russel do his business and saw feathers all over the yard. Now I am missing all but 1 and found 1 dead. Same MO, but this was in the middle of the field. Any ideas before I set out tonight with a shotgun?

 

[chickenannie]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Can you post your jack russell at the coop?

You must inspect your coop carefully, including any holes in the floor or wall or entry/exit points at your coop, or anything a predator could be hiding behind or in, such as a hay bale. Maybe something has been living in there. Or something is getting in, and you can plug up the hole.

Nighttime predators could be fox, raccoon, possum, coyote (if you have them there) or dog.

Also, I've learned the hard way that night-time squawking ALWAYS means a predator is attacking them. They do not squawk at night for any other reason.

 

[mxpres]

how predator proof is your pen,?raccoons are climbers and nocturnal,seems like they would have been getting them when they roost after dark,check your pen for broken wire and openingings big enough for predators to inter,

 

[Boyd]

sadly enough, my pen isn't 100% predator proof. There is a 6" gap under the coop itself so the droppings can fall underneath. That's why I was thinking something small. This was the 1st night I finally kept them enclosed (because wife doesn't want them pooping on her car anymore) that I started loosing them. Then last night I let them roam loose as they have been and now there are feathers everywhere, and the only one I can find is a broody hen. (She steals all the eggs from others and tries to hatch them)

Sigh. I knew nighttime squawking means something, but when I went out, there they were on their picnic table top vying for the best spot.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
Ask and Ye shall Receive

Lassie Dog loves to pose for the camera. I also took one of her next to the quail flight pen so you can see size comparison.

PS, The dogs here do not run loose, its hard to see, but she is tied off with her leash. She loves the quail. She was jumping up and away cuz a roo had crowed at her.

 

[Boyd]

Well, I've alerted all the neighbors, and I've gotten a ground blind constructed. As soon as I can get ahold of the police department I'll be all set (dont want them answering a call that poachers are out and about)

Coyote, wild dogs, fox, racoons beware.

 

[bugladyleah]

Good luck, Boyd! We have a terrible problem with raccoons and possums here. My neighbor also was on about a 6 month quest for a mink. It systematically took all of his geese over the winter. It would grab and kill them and then try to drag a huge goose down it's hole....figuring out that the goose wasn't going to fit...then it would just leave it. It is SOOO frustrating. I have lost several hens to racoons this year. The chase them around the chain link pen until the are lucky enough to grab one on the run then pull what they can thru the fence and eat it (eww). I have gotten two but there is still one getting in my trash. I can't seem to catch the bugger. We are making coon-skin hats (kidding).

Leah

 

[Southernbelle]

I lost 7 birds to a fox - we bought one of those motion-activated wildlife cams and caught him on camera sniffing around. The chickens he killed were my bachelor cockrels that free-ranged full time - the remaining bachelors learned to roost higher and the fox hasn't bothered them, nor has he tried to tunnel into the coop where the hens are. The flash on the camera seems to scare him off.

 

[Boyd]

Ack!!!! I got sick of them getting into my trash so I heated a 2 liter of coke, added a cup of fly poison and set the bucket on top of the trash can. Next morning I found the racoon only a few paces away. Repeat as needed to get them out of your trash

As far as the rest go, It pains me that I've gone so long without a loss and now I've lost almost all of them. ACK!

 

[Duppydo]

Boyd....glad you got that raccoon...! Exactly what kind of fly posion do you mix with Pepsi...? I've been tyring to catch a smart ole' coon that won't live trap for over a year. Maybe i can catch the rascal with your method...tanks....Kevin