Guess Which Predator Am I

[Msbear]

A hen has been found dead app. once a week with blue comb/face and missing neck feathers and a few times we've lost birds and found just the head out in the field with a trail of feathers leading to it. Body Gone!

The ones with the missing heads neglected to go up in the barn at night and the ones with the missing neck feathers were inside the barn which has an open window. We've lost a total of about 6 and it's every few days to a week and a half before another incident.


We set a wildlife camera today... I guess we shall see. Winner will receive bragging rights

 

[CupOJoe42]

Can I ask why you are not securing the place with more hardware cloth instead of waiting for another incident???? Just askin'.

 

[Msbear]

The window is on the second story in the hay loft and I need to keep it open to vent out hot air until this heat wave is through.. I think the only way something got in was through a very small opening in the door which we've taken care of... which makes me think we have multiple issues. A weasel probably got into the coop and killed but didn't eat and a fox got the ones that were outside. (The girls had found a nest in the tack barn where some hay bales are and we were not aware).

I'm famous for lack of explanation... it gets me every time. We build coops and we've NEVER had an issue with them http://designercoops.blogspot.com/ but, the big barn is still a work in progress. It's over a hundred years old. I think it's pretty tight now but, I am sure whatever it was will be back. We have a live trap.. .haven't caught anything but the neighbor's cat

eta: and, on the coops we build, we do use chicken wire for the runs. We use hardware cloth on the windows of the actual coop which can be locked securely at night. It's not cost efficient to do the runs in hardware cloth since most predators that can penetrate it are nocturnal. The runs are basically to keep the chickens in and to keep them safe from hawks and the stray dog.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd say multiple predators but I voted weasel.
If one got in the loft window I'd say owl.

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
We've seen big owls out here... I don't think it would be able to get to the chickens from the loft window though.. it would have to do some serious maneuvering around the bales and get down the stairs...

I came up the driveway one night and saw it in the middle of the road. It picked up a rabbit (which I thought was my cat at first glance)

and carried it off like nothing..

 

[Kudzu]

Quote:
Waiting on CSI, haven't you heard of not disturbing the crime scene? Guess...................

 

[dainerra]

a raccoon can climb a wall, so an open 2nd floor window is the way to the buffet.

 

[Msbear]

Quote:
Oh My!

I thought a raccoon would do much more damage than what I've been seeing but, I guess the window will get closed tonight.. I have a littler of kittens up there that will need to be moved down as it gets brutal up there. ... by the way, my dyslexia kicked in for a minute and I was wondering why anyone would pick "diarrhea" as their username

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'm voting raccoon... but it's not on the list.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
Coon is the colloquialism for Raccoon.