Great Horned Owl killing baby chicks

[ChristinLewin]

We had 37 baby chicks between 6-8 weeks old outside of our house in Chicken tractors that we move daily to give fresh grass/bugs etc . .
4 days ago, a neighbor found a pile of brown and white feathers at the bottom of the hill and when he showed me them, I knew it was my little cinnamon Ameraucana immediately.

We assumed some ground dweller had snuck up behind her during free range time and taken her back to the den to eat. Down one chicken

Next night happens and we wake up to find another pullet totally missing, 3 chickens maimed So badly that that needed to be culled and 2 with what looks like bite injuries to their back/thigh. I apply BluKot to the injured but saveable birds and ask my neighbor to come set up his trail cam and we can figure out what’s getting my babies. I was relatively certain it was a fox or raccoon yesterday morning after looking at the attack wounds

Down 5 chickens.

Set 2 traps using 2 dead chicks and hope for the best. This morning we go out and find one bait chicken gone, the other trap triggered but the bait still inside. We check the trail cam footage and to our great shock, see a GREAT HORNED OWL perching on top of the trap at 2:30am

Bad news all around.

At some point, the owl jumps up and perched on the trail cam so it tilts up and we can’t see what took the bait from the trap but we assume it was the owl. Things started clicking into place like the feathers found down under a tree, the injuries we thought were bite marks from raccoon or fox turned out to be talon injuries from this owl. For the killer to be the owl, they would have needed to hop/walk around the edges of the chicken tractor And find a weak spot (happened to be the corner that just popped off a few days ago) and reached through the hole, maiming and tearing holes in the baby chicks.
Good news is, nothing was injured or killed last night. Bad news, we can’t dispatch owls like we can a raccoon or possum.

Any ideas or thoughts?

 

[mowin]

Check your local regs. Some areas you CAN shoot a owl or hawk if it's killing livestock.

Otherwise, a fort knox coop and run is the only thing that will work.
Good luck.

 

[centrarchid]

Wounds described do not align well with Great-horned MO. It is not unusual to have more than one type of bad guy visit in a night. I have had Red Fox and Great-horned Owl that appear to follow each other around. Fox more follows owl. Show pictures of setup where birds taken.

 

[Cee]

Can you fortify your chicken tractors? What are they made of?
Do you have any pics?

 

[ChristinLewin]

These are not the permanent coops, just very temporary outside tractors until they are big enough to go back with the flock. The attack happened when we were using an older, more dilapidated tractor with a tiny hole that was able to be pulled (it seems) apart enough to have something sneak in
Pic:

some Of the injuries I didn’t think to take more, I just wanted to end the suffering ASAP

Part of me really thinks it’s a fox attacking and the owl just came to scoop something up and take it back to the tree to eat. I’m not sure and hopefully tonight we get more answers BUT I definitely saw the owl on the trail cam and there was definitely one dead bait chick taken from the trap. Everything else, I got no answers.
We have raised hundreds of chicks in the same tractor for years in the same spot and this is the first time anything has ever been taken or harmed from the tractors. They are very close to our house And most attacks occur in the back 40, On the laying hens, 1500 yards from my backdoor.
Less than 2 weeks ago we lost 2 hens to a raccoon (we trapped The next night.) and a week before that, 2 other hens to a hawk.
COVID got everyone all desperate!

 

[Cee]

Golly, I don't know that much, but I don't see a big old owl getting in via that opening. But I CAN tell you that poultry netting is not going to stop any predator like a fox, possom, or a raccoon.
Hang in there. Someone that knows more will surely come along and help you.
Is there a safe place somewhere you can move em while you strengthen your tractors?

 

[ChristinLewin]

Golly, I don't know that much, but I don't see a big old owl getting in via that opening. But I CAN tell you that poultry netting is not going to stop any predator like a fox, possom, or a raccoon.
Hang in there. Someone that knows more will surely come along and help you.
Is there a safe place somewhere you can move em while you strengthen your tractors?

We switched to the new tractors which have no breaks or snags or anything and last night whatever predator came and stole the bait chick, hasn’t been able to dig under the grass and get in easily that way.

I really think it’s a double team of fox + owl seen on trail cam

 

[centrarchid]

Might also be a raccoon. More likely than a fox to attempt chewing through chicken wire. Always try to have birds roost at least a foot from edge of pen to reduce the predators motivation to challenge the wire.

 

[iwltfum]

The problem I see is that there are no solid sides on your pen. Our pasture pens have at least two intersecting solid sides so they always have a corner to go to that is relatively safe compared to being right up against the chicken wire. I'm not sure how you would add solid sides to your pen, but I would consider it if I were you. Sounds like you have a decent amount of predator pressure. Also, that wide mesh in the last picture is way too big to be any protection from predators grabbing through it. I would replace it with chicken wire or hardware cloth.

 

[ChristinLewin]

The problem I see is that there are no solid sides on your pen. Our pasture pens have at least two intersecting solid sides so they always have a corner to go to that is relatively safe compared to being right up against the chicken wire. I'm not sure how you would add solid sides to your pen, but I would consider it if I were you. Sounds like you have a decent amount of predator pressure. Also, that wide mesh in the last picture is way too big to be any protection from predators grabbing through it. I would replace it with chicken wire or hardware cloth.

Yes, that old tractor was scrapped and we are using the totally brand new this year without any missing protection now. The killing happened in the old rickety tractor (wide mesh) and that’s been acknowledged. Im mostly wondering what type of predator would be able to pull this off