Dead and Missing Birds

[Dun2mis]

We have had a small starter flock of 8 birds not quite at laying age. We've been letting them free-range during the day and we lock them up at night. Yesterday, we went out late afternoon. When we returned, all of our girls were gone. We did find 3 bodies with no visible injuries (possibly broken necks?), and one poor girl drowned by flying into the pond (presumably to evade the predator). We did search around hoping to find some of them alive and in the trees with no luck. By that point, it was getting dark so we went inside. In the morning, two of the bodies were gone - so whatever killed them likely came back for their bodies.

I've been researching predators, but I haven't found any information about coming back for the bodies - or having some missing and others dead with little other evidence (there were a few feathers likely lost in distress).

My 9yo daughter was distraught... I used it as a good learning moment for her, but we would definitely like to do everything we can to avoid this moving forward. We live in the thumb region of Michigan. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[CluckerFamily]

It could be a couple different predators.
Fox jumps out at me.

 

[Dun2mis]

It could be a couple different predators.
Fox jumps out at me.

That was my best guess, but I thought that a fox would take two or three, not 7? And wouldn't the dead bodies have injuries?

 

[CluckerFamily]

That was my best guess, but I thought that a fox would take two or three, not 7? And wouldn't the dead bodies have injuries?

Where there is one fox there are many. She could have a den nearby. There wouldn’t be injuries if it snapped their necks.

 

[Dun2mis]

I love foxes... I just don't love them killing my "babies"! For our next attempt, here is what we're planning:

• Moving the coop further from the tree line
• Fencing in a good 1.5 acres
• Putting up motion lights around the coop

If that all isn't enough, I could add a hot line around the fence as well, but I suspect the above will do the trick. I may also put out a trail cam around the fence perimeter to see which predators we may be dealing with.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

It sounds like it was multiple predators.
Leaving their dead bodies out would only attract more predators.
After our dog attack (all broken necks) we buried the bodies. We had 10 return from the woods an hour later and 5 still missing. They were 8-9 weeks old. I suspect someone thing finished off the remaining ones in the woods at night.

 

[cmom]

I love foxes... I just don't love them killing my "babies"! For our next attempt, here is what we're planning:

• Moving the coop further from the tree line
• Fencing in a good 1.5 acres
• Putting up motion lights around the coop

If that all isn't enough, I could add a hot line around the fence as well, but I suspect the above will do the trick. I may also put out a trail cam around the fence perimeter to see which predators we may be dealing with.

You may be surprised at how smart predators can be. I don't free range anymore due to losses in the past. I did end up putting electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering my pens due to aerial predators and concrete under the gates, all due to losses from predators. I also have several game cameras around on my property. I see a lot of predators especially at night. I tried motion lights years ago but the predators got used to setting them off. Nothing has gotten past the hot wires. I think the adult predators teach the young that a bird isn't worth getting zapped for.