Had some hungry visitors last night

[chickintexas]

The chicken coop was recently completed and the girls had become used to it enough that they were easily going up and down the ramp. The few days before that, I had to go out in the evening to scoop all the birds up and place them inside. I felt that since they knew where their new home was that I'd go ahead and let them free range again like hey had been with their old setup. Well, the little butt heads didn't go in last night. They decided they liked being under the coop better.

There was no way I was going to get them out. I felt that they have been safe in the past so they should be fine last night. Famous last thoughts.
I went out this morning to check on everyone. The girls wouldn't come out to greet me like they usually do. I only saw a few poke their heads out from under the coop and then run back in. I did a quick count and was concerned because it appeared that 3 were missing. I walked the coop. A few bloody feathers. A very small blood trail. Then nothing. As I was walking in my neighbors yard trying to find more feathers or blood, I looked up at my geese and noticed one of them was missing too!!!!! I opened the gate and called my dogs to me. I needed their noses. Sure enough, my boy found the goose trail. Lots of bloody feathers. I found the body near the back of the property. I didn't poke at it to get a really good look but it appears to no longer have a head and it's been gutted. I can for sure see the gizzard hanging out. Me and the neighbors are thinking coons. There will be a minimum of 3 traps set tonight most of which will be loaners from other neighbors (I love my neighbors!). I'll be staying up late tonight sitting on the back deck. I know that whatever visited last night will be back. Why not? It/they had a free meal last night.

 

[KellyHM]

Stupid predators! I had something coming in and snatching 1 or 2 of my birds every night. This only happened 3 nights before I started locking them up at night. It never messed with my geese or turkeys though (and still doesn't). I did catch an opossum under my carport the other night though...needless to say it's no longer living.

 

[chickintexas]

I'll have my pistol ready to go tonight. There are a whole bunch of us in this neighborhood that own chickens, ducks, and geese. They know that if they are coming after my birds that the predators will eventually be making it to their place, too. When I called to tell DH about what happened, his thought I was sad and near to tears. It's not that for me. It feels more like someone burglarized my home, you know?

 

[Yardbirds286]

Gosh thats terrible. I am so sorry for your loss. Good luck catching whatever did it!

 

[The Chicken People]

Hope the weathers nice tonight...Happy Hunting!

 

[chickintexas]

I've got 4 traps strategically set outside right now. One of them is big enough to catch a medium sized dog and that one is where the body of the goose finally ended up at. One smaller trap is on the opposite side of the yard where whatever the critter was had dragged the 3 chickens under the fence. The other two traps are around the coop. They aren't set to catch anything right now but after I put the birds away this evening, they'll be ready to go. I have hotdogs in them and I figure that they'll be nice and ripe by tonight. Any other raccoon baits that'll get their attention?

The chickens will be locked in their coop tonight. I'm going to catch the geese and throw them into the chicken run.

Bring it on.

 

[chickintexas]

Update:
All 4 of the traps had been visited last night. Here's the run down; The medium sized trap had a wild cat in it that everyone in the neighborhood has been trying to catch. The two smaller traps were set off and one had been moved a few yards away from where I set it. They were probably too small, then. The bait was devoured out of the large trap but it had not been set off. It's a very old trap and not a very good design. I'll tinker with it today to give it a hair trigger. I'm going to re-bait the medium and large trap tonight with some sardines. My step dad told me he's caught a fair share of raccoons with sardines. At the last minute, I added some Tilapia to all the traps yesterday just to make things more enticing.
Oh, and I'm adding a snare trap tonight. I've caught all the wild cats that had been visiting me now so I'm not worried about catching another cat. I'll be setting up the snare along the fence line where my elusive critter has been going under and where I found the chicken blood.

 

[Attack Chicken]

I hope you get whatever took your birds! Feral cats are getting bad here to...

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Good luck, I can't wait to find out what it is....I'm thinking raccoon or opossum....

 

[chickintexas]

Another feral cat caught last night!! Well, at least the wild cat population is dwindling in my area.

While I was listening for critters on the back deck last night, I did hear some raccoons fighting out in the dry creek that runs along the back of the property. Resetting the traps again tonight.