I woke up this morning to a site, a pile of feathers in our backyard, with two feet left behind, another chicken freaking out in the rose bush, feathers all over the front yard, the gate open and my two dogs there. I immediately checked them for blood, none on their lips, teeth, nails, fur, now where. No dried blood either. They were both running around the bush with the chicken in it but not like lunging at it or trying to attack.
I'm put them both away to access the damage, when I came back the one in the bush was just gone. Like poor, as if it was never there except feathers, I went to feed our other chickens to see how many were gone, three left so two were gone. But I'm not sure who did it, I know it sounds cut and dry but let me say why I'm unsure.
We used to have 12 hens in total, over the past month they have disappeared over night WHILE the dogs were locked in crates in the house. We have found a fox den up at our barn-neighbor apparently has been feeding them- and seen a coyote at least 3 times at night. It's really a proper game of clue, who did it?
My older girl Misa has never harme our chickens, she has been used to kind of herd them tho but never touch them. Our newest girl Piper-ironically who I just signed up for a dog trianing class which teaches them to leave alone chickens, goats, etc- has tried to chase them before but never killed one even though she could easily have caught one.
How do I know who did it? And what do I do if it was my dogs??
I'm put them both away to access the damage, when I came back the one in the bush was just gone. Like poor, as if it was never there except feathers, I went to feed our other chickens to see how many were gone, three left so two were gone. But I'm not sure who did it, I know it sounds cut and dry but let me say why I'm unsure.
We used to have 12 hens in total, over the past month they have disappeared over night WHILE the dogs were locked in crates in the house. We have found a fox den up at our barn-neighbor apparently has been feeding them- and seen a coyote at least 3 times at night. It's really a proper game of clue, who did it?
My older girl Misa has never harme our chickens, she has been used to kind of herd them tho but never touch them. Our newest girl Piper-ironically who I just signed up for a dog trianing class which teaches them to leave alone chickens, goats, etc- has tried to chase them before but never killed one even though she could easily have caught one.
How do I know who did it? And what do I do if it was my dogs??
Try treats in the coop at night. I do it and the youngster run into their coops for their treats. Recently I lost my precious Gladys while free ranging to a fox and just prior I lost a couple of other birds. I hadn't lost a bird to a predator in several years. I do blame myself for loosing Gladys but not the other two because they were locked in their coop and pen. Somehow a gate was opened. When I discovered that two birds were missing and then found the piles of feathers, I wired the gates shut. I have a piece of wire on the inside on the gate that was opened and the gate opens out so the wire is always on the inside of the gate. Well the next morning I discovered the gate had been messed with again and somehow the wire that was on the inside of the gate was now on the outside of it. The predator had to put a good force to the gate to get it past the wire. I had been seeing a fox lurking around that coop and pen on a game camera. Unfortunately the nights in question it was foggy so I couldn't see the gate but the fox did get close enough to the camera that I saw it. I have been seeing it quite a bit. This was the pen that the predator had gotten the gate open. I have seen a fox and coyote there so they are the prime suspects. Since I have moved those birds to another coop but now have chicks in this one but I have been closing the pop door at night.
