Entire coop wiped out last night :(

[Sylverfly]

This morning was a very bad day. I went out to get all the animals fed and saw a dead hen laying in the garden. When I got to the coop every chicken was gone, no bodies left just buckets and buckets of feathers everywhere. There was one small shallow hole dug that was point of entry and exit, and some small canine like footprints. I lost all 13 of my chickens nearly all my marans. I have a few living in the other coop with the cochins so hopefully I can hatch out a few and start over. I have no idea what killed them I'm thinking a dog at the moment, since the foxes have never bothered them and most foxes just take one or two and come back every night. But dogs normally just maul and leave so I have no idea? The strangest part is that the one dead hen was left in loose soil in the garden and there are marks like it was dragged but no tracks around the drag marks either from the predator or from the chicken dragging herself? In the back of my mind I'm wondering if someone caught their dog after this massacre bagged all the dead chickens and used a stick to try and move the one hen and avoid leaving tracks in the soft dirt? I have no idea. But last year our neighbors came up (this is their vacation house) and their dog killed one of my birds (pulled it out from under the fence)...I have no proof it was them and I don't plan on accusing them since I didn't see anything. But it still makes me wonder. If I see a small dog with them I will wonder even more.

 

[txnative]

Sorry for your loss. Mine haven't gone outside yet, but I am dreading the possibility of waking up to a similar scene. Perhaps put up a game camera to see if you can catch a photo of whatever it was since it will probably come back.

 

[JanetS]

So sorry for you loss. You might want to take some pictures of the hole, feathers, dead chicken and the animal prints for possible use in the future. Could be proof of the neighbors dog. Will you be getting more chickens?

 

[Arizona Son]

the fact that entry was a small shallow hole & you saw canine like footprints, leads me to theorize that it *might* have been a family of skunks - an adult mother with adolescent kits almost ready to be independent of her.


Being that you are in Michigan, there's a whole slew of predators in your geographic area that like to eat chicken!
Skunks, weasels, fishers, minks, badgers, possums, raccoons, otters, foxes, coyotes, martens, bobcats & more

I like the idea that a previous poster "txnative" had, with setting up a game camera. That way you will definitively know without a doubt as to what or whom the culprits are.

 

[ivan3]

M.O. certainly seems `foxy' to me. A breeding pair hit our neighbors at about 3pm one afternoon. All 13 Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets simply vanished - over the space of 15 minutes (owner went in to cut up melon, etc. for the chooks - came back out to a few feathers).

I found the cache point in our tree line about 200yds from neighbor's place. Nothing but piles of feathers under a stand of Cedars. This was the starting point for hunting down the den. Those foxes ate no more poultry. Whatever wiped out your flock felt comfortable enough to remove the feathers right in the coop.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mattemma]

So sorry for your loss.If you have traps keep them set at all times. I just rebaited mine. I keep it set 24/7.

 

[kmpaulick]

Sounds like a fox to me too. We lost a couple hens recently and found them headless and lightly buried by a fox. Between a fox and an owl, we've had a rough summer...down to one lonely hen. Seems a shame to get more just to feed the predators, but I hate to keep them locked in the run all the time too.

 

[Redcatcher]

I'm thinking fox, too. Foxes (and dogs) will sometimes toss their prey up into the air while shaking it to kill/stun it and that could explain the hen you found in the garden. Probably it landed there and slid. If a fox doesn't feel that its in any danger, it will stick around and kill all of the chickens and then come back later or attempt to bury them in the vicinity. I know how just how you feel though. I've lost a lot of chickens over the years to foxes.

 

[thomasboyle]

Very sorry for your loss. The worst part is not knowing what did it, and therefore how to defend against it. I have installed 2 trail cams areound my coop. One on the coop looking outward and one looking at the coop itself. I have captured raccoons, bobcat and other critters on film, so I know how and when they come so I can try and beef up my defences. To combat my bobcat losses, I put up an electric net fence that protects the outdoor coop area as well as fences in a large grazing area so they can free range and still be protected. I am going to buy another net fence so I can increase the size of the free range area.

 

[redfishingirl]

Oh, that is so heartbreaking. We have lost 3, but one at a time to raccoons. We hate those jerks. But each time we have fortified the coop and they are locked up super tight at night now. I read once that we always have to remember that almost everything likes to eat chicken, so you have to be aware all the time. Doesn't make it any easier. I am so sorry for your loss.