coyotes?

[ThiefPouter06]

I have been losing 1-3 chickens/chicks once a week to every other day since spring. Probably 30 plus total. (I pen them up after a loss for a few weeks but the losses restart soon after I release again. I let my chickens out at around 4 and pen them up at dusk. There coop is in a lot surrounded by hog panels so not dogs. The thicket next to my house and coop is full of trails big enough for a dog to run through. My nieghboor did shoot a young, unscared, coyote on Monday. Thurs, I sprinkled flour in front of my coop and found a partial print over two inches (made between 9 and 10 at night). I think it was coyote but there were no nail prints. My bro in law set in the coop until dark and heard something sniffing outside but my wife shouted out the door. Is it possible that a female had a litter here in the spring and the young have stayed? Would a bobcat hunt in the evening before dark? I seldom find feathers other than a few. There have been a few times where the missing chicken appeared the next day missing its tail. Any thoughts?

 

[sourland]

Could very well be a family of coyotes or a bobat. Both are smart, opportunistic hunters and when necessary will hunt any time of day.

 

[momgoose]

If not in immediate danger, Bobcats usually eat where they kill then come back for the rest later (and leave TONS of feathers). Coyotes grab and run. Coyotes do hunt day and night and will hunt indpendently or in packs. Bobcats typically hunt early in the morning or late in the evening but their habits will vary with availability of prey, time of year and need. However, a two inch paw print is pretty small for a coyote and for most bobcats (bobcats can weigh 9-40 lbs but have big feet for their size). Bobcats are in the larger range in Canada and north & northeastern US and smaller in the south and southwest. I had a 22 lb Domestic longhaired cat that caught full grown cotton tail rabbits at least twice a week (he typically consumed at least half of his catch immediately and left the rest on the front porch mat for later--or maybe for us!!). A chicken would have been easy pickin's for him. My cat had big feet and his print was easily 2" (side to side).