Fox? Coyote? Coon?

[Oren]

Coons are everywhere...very shy . You might want to try sprinkling flour or cornstarch really good around your coop so u can identify the culprit by the footprints

Good idea!

 

[Oren]

Your culprit is almost certainly coons and likely more than one. Like a whole family. They will be back if they have not already done so.

Your birds could get out of your coop and run? If so, a whole host of varmints could get in, but again, as you describe things most likely coons did this.

Your best course of action is to tighten things up at the coop and run level. Fence made of sturdy stuff (hardware cloth or welded wire) plus if you have diggers or varmints going under the fence, best and easiest solution to that is an apron laid flat on the ground. Apron made from 24" wire, with a short "L" of 4 to 6 inches running up the side of the coop/run.......the rest laid out flat on the ground. Diggers go at it at the base of the run fence, but immediately hit the apron and are stopped cold. They may cast up and down the run to start digging again, but never figure out they need to go way out there behind them to start a tunnel operation beneath the fence. An apron is as effective, if not more so, than buried wire and about 100X easier to install. In time, grass grows up through the apron and in a short while you simply mow over it. Out of sight and out of mind, but still there doing it's job.

That protects the birds at night, which 99% of the time will work for coons. But if you also have a fox around, and they develop a taste for chicken, free ranging birds will be gone one by one until all are gone. So true free ranging will result in dead / missing birds. Best solution to that is to create a "yard" for the birds........a zone of protection within which they are safe during the day. Some of us use electric fences for that.

Thank you for the specifics!!

 

[Oren]

Sorry to hear about your losses.

You've offered three things to consider: (1) animals killed for food and for fun, (2) dragged away, and (3) predator maybe spied and laid in wait before attacking.

Laying and spying is not something a coon would do, that is behavior of a coyote or a fox, or perhaps some kind of feline .

Some of your chickens seemed to have been killed for fun, which has coons or coyotes written all over it. Foxes are usually pure opportunists and simply go in and take what they need and get the heck out. I don't think a murder scene like that is the doing of a fox.

I don't think coons drag their food away so much, they typically sit around and eat, as they live in trees and such, but I think coyotes would.

My vote is for coyotes. If you were close enough to them when this happened, you should have heard the coyotes, they are often noisy when they get into food and killing, and can't help themselves but to bark and howl. If you really want to know the answer, just set up a game camera and bait it with something soon and you should find the culprit. Not sure where you live, but wild felines (bob cats, lynx, or even a feral cat) could be something to be suspicious over--they kill for fun sometimes, they stalk and lie in wait, and they also drag their food away.

Unfortunately we probably weren't home when out happened.
Thank you for your thoughts\ideas.

 

[Oren]

If it's a coyote (or fox for the same matter), a radio in a coop that they know they can access the interior of would work for about a handful of attempts by yotes until they figure it out, which they will.... they are ultra intelligent, and it will not stop them. It is akin to installing motion lights--it will deter them for some time, until they figure it out (they usually do), then back to feasting on their easy prey.

The best way to keep your animals safe is to locate their coops or lofts as close to your home as possible, and make sure they are physically predator proof. Making a coop predator proof may take some work, but is a very reasonably easy thing to do.

Agreed!!

 

[Oren]

Fox or cayote one or the other. Coon would not drag them under two fences.

I didn't think so...

 

[MillersFarm]

A part of me wants to say coon but another says fox.... Normally when a fox attacks you wouldn't see any bodies... just a load of feathers... meanwhile raccoons love to eat the heads and just leave the body, I don't think the chances of both creatures attacking your chickens on the same night is high.. but at the same time it could happen

 

[peterlund]

Doesn't really matter what the predator was now. What matters is the coop and run are far from predator proof. But i suspect that will change mighty quick.
Sorry for the loss. This is why so many preach about secure accommodation for the birds.
Everybody loves chicken. Good luck with securing your ladiess. They will probably stop laying for a while btw due to sheer trauma.