Fox? Coyote? Coon?

[abraga]

We built a chicken coop and allowed our chickens to free rang until a few months ago something killed one.
Within a few days we built a closed in area for them with chicken wire. A couple chickens could find their way out but it worked pretty well until we came home late one night and neglected to put them up. Awful!! I still feel terrible!!!
Two chickens were safe in the coop, one was in the pen missing its head, one was squished in the corner of pen alive but inured, and 5 were taken.
There were feathers everywhere. The only noticeable blood was where they must have been dragged under the fence. Not much of a blood trail at all. Whatever took them had to have dragged them under their fenced in area and then under another fence. It looks to me like the gaps under the fence are 3 inches or less. Not sure how big the gap under their pen was.
I have a wildflower area close to the coop and have noticed a couple of trails. Also an area looks mashed down back there where something has been laying? Spying?
Any ideas what did this?

i once had a possum that would take 2 chickens at a time! He would decapitate them and all id find was chicken heads n the morning. I used traps to catch the culprit cuz I was not sure what was killing them. I was shocked it was a possum doing all that damage. I also started keeping motion controlled night cameras about..like hunters use to monitor night activities..i got pics of coons and possums snooping about. I regularly keep out traps, hot wired my coop...and predator proofed my coop/pen to the best of my ability. 5 taken at once...thats a lot! U may have something like a fox or coyote family near by...probly more than one.

 

[hannahsflock]

So sorry for your losses, that's awful!

I would definitely suggest buying a couple of geese to live near the chickens (if possible). They act like guard dogs, and since we've had them we haven't lost one single chicken in over 5 years.

 

[abraga]

Central Indiana...live by a wooded area...have seen a fox...hear coyotes...see hawks and owls all the time. In 8 years I have yet to see a coon or bobcat.
Thanks for all input!!

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

 

[Howard E]

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.

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

We built a chicken coop and allowed our chickens to free rang until a few months ago something killed one.
Within a few days we built a closed in area for them with chicken wire. A couple chickens could find their way out but it worked pretty well until we came home late one night and neglected to put them up. Awful!! I still feel terrible!!!
Two chickens were safe in the coop, one was in the pen missing its head, one was squished in the corner of pen alive but inured, and 5 were taken.
There were feathers everywhere. The only noticeable blood was where they must have been dragged under the fence. Not much of a blood trail at all. Whatever took them had to have dragged them under their fenced in area and then under another fence. It looks to me like the gaps under the fence are 3 inches or less. Not sure how big the gap under their pen was.
I have a wildflower area close to the coop and have noticed a couple of trails. Also an area looks mashed down back there where something has been laying? Spying?
Any ideas what did this?

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

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

Oh my! I'm so sorry! I know how you feel. I've lost 6 of mine to a opossum! And it sounds like that's what you have. Or it could of likely been a raccoon. Nasty things! Do you have a dog that you could leave outside during the night? Also lights and noises will scare them. Make sure that you try to keep the chicken pen and your yard clean. Raccoons are attracted to garbage cans, so keep the lids on them! I would definitely suggest a good guard dog.

We built a chicken coop and allowed our chickens to free rang until a few months ago something killed one.
Within a few days we built a closed in area for them with chicken wire. A couple chickens could find their way out but it worked pretty well until we came home late one night and neglected to put them up. Awful!! I still feel terrible!!!
Two chickens were safe in the coop, one was in the pen missing its head, one was squished in the corner of pen alive but inured, and 5 were taken.
There were feathers everywhere. The only noticeable blood was where they must have been dragged under the fence. Not much of a blood trail at all. Whatever took them had to have dragged them under their fenced in area and then under another fence. It looks to me like the gaps under the fence are 3 inches or less. Not sure how big the gap under their pen was.
I have a wildflower area close to the coop and have noticed a couple of trails. Also an area looks mashed down back there where something has been laying? Spying?
Any ideas what did this?

Also leave a radio on inside the coop.

 

[LamarshFish]

We built a chicken coop and allowed our chickens to free rang until a few months ago something killed one.
Within a few days we built a closed in area for them with chicken wire. A couple chickens could find their way out but it worked pretty well until we came home late one night and neglected to put them up. Awful!! I still feel terrible!!!
Two chickens were safe in the coop, one was in the pen missing its head, one was squished in the corner of pen alive but inured, and 5 were taken.
There were feathers everywhere. The only noticeable blood was where they must have been dragged under the fence. Not much of a blood trail at all. Whatever took them had to have dragged them under their fenced in area and then under another fence. It looks to me like the gaps under the fence are 3 inches or less. Not sure how big the gap under their pen was.
I have a wildflower area close to the coop and have noticed a couple of trails. Also an area looks mashed down back there where something has been laying? Spying?
Any ideas what did this?

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.

 

[sassysarah]

Also leave a radio on inside the coop.

I've heard of that! Always thought it sounded like a great idea! I almost tried it once!

 

[LamarshFish]

Also leave a radio on inside the coop.

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.

 

[Oren]

So sorry for your losses, that's awful!

I would definitely suggest buying a couple of geese to live near the chickens (if possible). They act like guard dogs, and since we've had them we haven't lost one single chicken in over 5 years.

That is awesome that they are like that! I do have a friend that got a group of geese to stay with her donkey and goats. I love the way they stick together.