Emergency- my hens are being hunted - what is getting them!?

[Lspears218]

Good morning all-

So I will make this as short as I can while giving as much detail of my property as I can.

I live in Louisiana on the bayou - yes there are gators here but it is currently cold and rainy. Also the bayou is about 100 ft down a steep hill and a gator has never came up onto our property and we have a chain linked fence at the top of the hill. I’ve had a flock of 15+ including 4 roosters for 3 years now. Never in the time had we encountered any predators. We have a fully fenced in property, though occasionally they jump into our neighbors yard by hopping onto our girls swingset and over the top of the fence. Our yard is very clear, open and no heavy tree line or bushes. The neighbors yard however is never maintained, the oak trees are tall and provide so much shade and coverage that the grass barely grows in their yard. They’ve got tons of large bushes and I have nicknamed it “the jungle”. Though we live on the bayou , our home is safely nestled between a major highway and 2 roads meaning it would be very unlikely for it to be a coyote or fox (they stick to the pasture and cane fields).

I am highly suspicious of 3 possibilities:
-Hawk
-Owl
-Snake

I’ve discovered a hunting pattern, whatever it is comes every 3-4 days and now we are down 4 hens (2 sapphire gems , 1 EE, and 1 pullet).

Whatever it is came out of no where because like I said in 3 years we have NEVER lost a hen or rooster. It is very upsetting and I would like to figure out what is getting to our flock and any advice on ridding it as well.

I appreciate all of your advice and taking time to read this.

I’m attaching some photos , some older while the hens were smaller , it is more to see the property itself.

Thank you.

 

[SamLockwood]

While I agree a gator probably wouldn't mess with that fence, virtually anything else can easily either hop over that fence or slip through the chain-link.

I'm surprised you don't have problems with your chickens getting out of the enclosure with a fence that low. My flock is mostly olive eggers and most of them would easily hop on top of that and then hop off.

If your are finding little or no remains, just birds disappearing and maybe leaving feathers behind I would rule out birds of prey. Most hakws and owls aren't strong enough to carry off a 12-week pullet, let alone a fully grown standard-size chicken. They'll usually drag them off and eat them on site. You'll find bodies missing the head and neck.

Eagles are big enough to fly off with a whole bird, however.

Unless you've got something like the Burmese Pythons that plague Florida, I think we can rule out snakes. They're not big enough to swallow a whole chicken, but will steal eggs and eat chicks.

Foxes and members of the weasel family (weasels, minks, ferrets) usually like to kill in big batches, especially weasels. They'll do in your whole flock at once just for fun.

Raccoons or opossums sometimes attack during the day, but they leave a mess behind.

Bobcats and coyotes are sometimes active in daytime, and will inhabit a variety of terrain: my property is mostly forest, some of it quite dense at one end, and there's a pack of about six coyotes that cross the property every couple days. I've also got a bobcat that that took to hopping the fence last spring and took four of my chickens in as many days before I drove it off.

Likely your culprit is a bobcat, coyote, or eagle. It could also be a feral dog.

There's an outside chance your predator is a human: if you've either got a homeless person camped out nearby or you have some weirdo for a neighbor.

In any case, I'd put the flock in lockdown before you're completely out of chickens: keep them cooped up for at least a week. I'd also invest in some trail cameras to see if you can get a glimpse of what's stalking around your property.

 

[Pigeony]

Good morning all-

So I will make this as short as I can while giving as much detail of my property as I can.

I live in Louisiana on the bayou - yes there are gators here but it is currently cold and rainy. Also the bayou is about 100 ft down a steep hill and a gator has never came up onto our property and we have a chain linked fence at the top of the hill. I’ve had a flock of 15+ including 4 roosters for 3 years now. Never in the time had we encountered any predators. We have a fully fenced in property, though occasionally they jump into our neighbors yard by hopping onto our girls swingset and over the top of the fence. Our yard is very clear, open and no heavy tree line or bushes. The neighbors yard however is never maintained, the oak trees are tall and provide so much shade and coverage that the grass barely grows in their yard. They’ve got tons of large bushes and I have nicknamed it “the jungle”. Though we live on the bayou , our home is safely nestled between a major highway and 2 roads meaning it would be very unlikely for it to be a coyote or fox (they stick to the pasture and cane fields).

I am highly suspicious of 3 possibilities:
-Hawk
-Owl
-Snake

I’ve discovered a hunting pattern, whatever it is comes every 3-4 days and now we are down 4 hens (2 sapphire gems , 1 EE, and 1 pullet).

Whatever it is came out of no where because like I said in 3 years we have NEVER lost a hen or rooster. It is very upsetting and I would like to figure out what is getting to our flock and any advice on ridding it as well.

I appreciate all of your advice and taking time to read this.

I’m attaching some photos , some older while the hens were smaller , it is more to see the property itself.

Thank you.

Are you seeing anything left of the birds? Feathers, blood, etc.?

 

[talkinboutchickens]

What did the "murder scene" look like? For instance, if a hawk got one then there will be a bunch of feathers on the ground and the body will be gone. Here's a link that I find helpful for figuring out what the culprit is:
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/coops/what-killed-my-chicken-homestead-supplier/

 

[gimmie birdies]

Mine was a weasel-mink I saw it many times. It took out my hens one by one just recently, then last night took the last 4, my very favorites. A big rat trap helped it caught a tip of something, but I am going to try putting traps by my chicken waterer- (water in my area is frozen but my chickens water-er.)

 

[Lspears218]

What did the "murder scene" look like? For instance, if a hawk got one then there will be a bunch of feathers on the ground and the body will be gone. Here's a link that I find helpful for figuring out what the culprit is:
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/coops/what-killed-my-chicken-homestead-supplier/

I apologize, so the weirdest part of this is that they are vanishing like ghosts. No evidence at all , no feathers no blood nothing at all, which is making it very difficult for me to understand or try to solve the problem.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

I apologize, so the weirdest part of this is that they are vanishing like ghosts. No evidence at all , no feathers no blood nothing at all, which is making it very difficult for me to understand or try to solve the problem.

No worries! That is very very strange. Likely NOT a hawk or owl then because you would see feathers. Is it possible that your girls just hopped over the fence and never came back?

 

[Lspears218]

No worries! That is very very strange. Likely NOT a hawk or owl then because you would see feathers. Is it possible that your girls just hopped over the fence and never came back?

It is possible there may be evidence in my neighbors yard I will have to ask them if I can check

 

[Pigeony]

With no evidence being left behind, I doubt it's a bird of prey or a bobcat. They tend to leave evidence, feathers at the very least. With fences like that, a coyote could leap over and nab a bird without much fuss. A smart one doesn't leave much of a mess or eat on the spot. They're more willing to brave urban environments than you would think, and once they've discovered an area has food, they can be pretty determined. The birds could also be leaving the area of their own accord and getting nabbed outside of your yard.

 

[WingItRanch]

My vote is coyote or cat. Coyotes are definitely known to enter neighborhoods and hop even high fences. In Tucson, cats and small dogs would go missing without any evidence and when people would check their security cameras, you'd see a coyote scaling walls, quickly dispatch the animal, and carry it back over the wall. It's absolutely fascinating/terrifying.

Have you thought about putting up cameras?

Either way, I'd lock your flock up for a bit. If the predator can't get easy prey, it will move on.