flock wiped out

[quaasi]

Sadly, if you're going to have chickens, you're going to have losses, eventually. However, every loss is a learning experience, and you do learn. We've had poultry for 15 years. I wish I knew then (when I first started with them) what I know now. But, that's the way it goes. Please don't feel like you can't get any more. They'll continue to bring you happiness and entertainment. It's rare to have a mass slaughter like that, imo. Oh, it could have been a fox too..sometimes they do that. I still don't think it was a raccoon.

yeah i guess it’s just a lot to process atm, the idea of getting more hurts but they’re such wonderful creatures
i dunno, we’ll figure something out
im torn on what it could have been
ive been staring at this for so long and not actually writing much of anything but my roommate is getting a game cam and will set it up near the coop to see if anything comes looking for seconds, and i’ll post if/when there are any results

 

[Rldad1]

Weasels/mink will kill for the fun of it. A raccoon usually only kills two or three and eats them or carries them off. As chicknmania says I suspect weasel/mink.

 

[Rldad1]

Sorry for your loss. It is hard to face losing animals you have grown close to. Though it is tough, the pleasure they give is, to me at least, worth the pain when we lose them.

 

[M Brennen]

So sorry for your loss.it does sound more like a weasel, fisher, or something of that nature.

 

[FoxManor]

My top guesses are fox and raccoon. Wet cat food works great for both, adding a visual like a group of feathers on a string can help. They smell food but are wary, so seeing the movement snaps the mind into predator instinct which might cancel the caution long enough to get them trapped. The time I had a fox go on a killing spree and not eat anything I t was a very ill fox, starving and with the worst case of mange I’ve ever seen. Marshmallows or anything sweet and fragrant also work well for raccoons. If you do use a live trap don’t set it on the ground, get it up if you can. I’ve caught to many skunks, lured in by bait, and learned not to trap on the ground if possible. I hope you get what did this so your birds are safe in the future.

 

[chicknmania]

they’re going to put one of these horizontally up against the kennel so hopefully that helps ;; i’m not sure if the stuffed animal chicken will fool her but they’re going to try that too! thanks for the suggestions, ideally i’d like for her to have more friends but it’s almost winter in upstate ny and we wouldn’t be able to get chicks
it couldn't hurt to check and just see if anyone needs to rehome some birds, or if anyone would be willing to take her in
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I have a friend who ended up with a lone hen, she made her a stuffed chicken that sat beside her on the perch at night. No idea if she knew it wasn't real, but she did sit beside it, lol! And, I always use a stuffed animal chicken if I have chicks without a mama, and they cuddle up with it, although in that case, they'll cuddle up with any stuffed animal.

 

[chicknmania]

Just as an afterthought...(and it's unlikely)..but I remembered that I had another friend whose flock was in the coop and the neighbor's DOG broke into the coop in the middle of the night. It slaughtered just her rooster, and the others escaped....but really, you can't rule out any possibilities. Just thought of it because dogs will do that...kill everything, and then leave everything.

 

[KarynVA]

I'm so sorry for your loss. How awful, especially while you are away ...

I had a professional come to my property this past summer to trap a family of raccoons for us. He managed to trap both adults and 1 kit using Cheetos in the trap. He used the large, puffy Cheetos. He also had some type of oily substance that works by smell to attract them, but I don't know what it was or even if one can purchase it as a consumer.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a skunk come in last year. It just ate the heads on 2 of my birds. We put a trap out and caught it, bated with tuna fish. We relocated it where the fish and game guy said to.

 

[quaasi]

thanks for all the advice guys! i’m definitely going to let my roommates know about the different types of bait and the dangling feathers since we’ve got no shortage of them now, hopefully they’ll be able to rig a trap that isn’t sitting on the ground because catching a skunk instead sounds awful
have you guys had any experience with baiting weasels/fishers/minks and if so, with what?

in other news, the surviving hen is responding well to the mirror and i’ve been told that she’s been chattering with it all morning! her kennel was also moved to our plant room and has been placed in front of the vestibule so she can look outside and get a little sun, and she seems to have perked up considerably c: