Heartbroken after losing 75+ birds, 2 turkeys, & 10 ducks.

[biggbooboo]

coons like to kill everything

 

[cmom]

The OP said she woke up in the morning to find the carnage so it had to have been during the night. Game camera... I'm sure it has or will be back.

 

[chickendreams24]

I had a rat problem. In one of the coops we put up an interior wall around the bottom of the coop I know not why. Rats chewed holes in the wood and nested in-between the inner and outer walls. I tore the walls out and replaced them but did not put any inner wall in this time. Prior to renovating that coop I loaded it with rat baits and closed it off so nothing could get inside and get to the rat baits. I did get rid of the rats. Now I keep some baits in places where only the rats can get to them.
View attachment 1529419 View attachment 1529421

Yes we too had to use rat baits carefully to remove them. We will wall up our coop inside and out because I want it insulated(WI regularly sees down between -20 to -40F with wind chill) enough ventilation will be provided but there will definitely be rat baits left in the walls. It will be an almost total floor to ceiling rebuild as the building is an over 100 years old two room milk house. It makes a great coop but yes our rats were living in the walls and actually under the concrete foundation of our barnyard and the coop itself. Our rats chewed holes in the coop foundation and the foundation of our house. Through inches of concrete. Yes they then also chewed through the wooden coop walls but I never thought they could chew through concrete.

Rats are horrible creatures and consumed members of our flock from the vent in while the slept(in the case of juveniles) and while laying in the case of adults. Completely consumed 3 coturnix quail out of a raised run in the coop down to half a skull the pelvic bones and a few other bone pieces. Around half the chickens they attacked were left walking shells alive but with no intestines and many other organs missing as well. These birds were immediately culled to end their suffering. The other half I assume died from shock and blood loss. We had only two 6-8 week old chicks that they attacked in the way usually described by immobilizing them by biting the legs and hocks.

I have wondered if the mink was responsible for the kills with the innards out but that is also an unusual MO for a mink. Some of the kills were done in as little as 10-20 minutes from 1 time to another that we were in the coop. And we found rats living beneath our second coop that we used for a grow out. It was that coop that most of the losses were from. That coop also doesn't have a foundation.

 

[Melky]

Hope you kill the culprit.

I've never seen coyotes go on a killing spree. Around here, they usually grab their dinner and split before they get caught, only to come back in the following days/nights for more free food. Sure sounds like some dogs by the way they killed everything.

I agree this could be a coyote attack and more likely with that level of carnage. Coyotes do not stop till they are done and one can cause that much damage for the pack. We had an ID of a coyote in Ohio north of us that killed almost an entire large flock of chickens in one visit of a Baptist church that raised their own chickens to supply the church of eggs. They have the video of the coyote stocking the chickens from the field edge near the woods in the late afternoon and will wait till everyone is down for the night. I use solar predator lights on my coop that face the woods which has worked. One each side. Also need brick or stone paver under coop with 24 inch apron of 19 g 1/2 inch hardware cloth and many also use large landscaping stone or concrete under the coop with serious digging predators as she is facing. The coop and run require same type fencing and a roof that is asphalt and shingled. Need to make sure ventilation areas are covered with same cloth and not reachable. If can't roof and shingle run. Many with the predators discussed will do all of this to protect flock and put down an electric fence to protect the coop. These seem to be the only things that seem to deter large predators.

Many people think dogs are the culprit with coyote but may be wrong. Frequently they are confused. I live in suburban northern Kentucky and we have coyote just like Ohio. I had one move through my property in late afternoon stalking food just before dusk to plan its attack while I was out in an acre yard near my gardens. My dog is not allowed out at night for this reason as we have had coyote attacks on domestic dogs in our area and it took a while for people to believe we have them. You will usually just see one if sighted but the pack is not far away. It only takes one.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

A fox will kill everything before taking the bodies away and hiding them

 

[Aceoky]

When they mate with dogs you get a "coy dog" that is a really bad mix. I also tend to believe it was dog(s) but it's possible it was something else, regardless of the culprit, I'm so very sorry for you loss.

 

[Goldenrod1210]

I'm so sorry for your loss.....I can't even imagine losing so many. Darn coyote

 

[mosse71]

had a fox take 2 geese and 6 of my 8 ducks in i night. .22 magum ended her life when she returned to finish the task just before dark the next night. only a few drops of blood and 1 feather was left in the yard. my neighbor up the street lost almost 100 chickens to a family of canadian lynx. theyre protected and you can't shoot them. wardens tried to live trap them but they wouldnt go in. were chewing thru welded wire too get in!

 

[cmom]

A fox will kill everything before taking the bodies away and hiding them

A fox did that to me once. It dug under one of the gates and would kill a bird and drag it out and go back for another one and on and on. I finally caught it and permanently relocated it. Since I put concrete under all of the gates.

 

[EggWalrus]

A fox did that to me once. It dug under one of the gates and would kill a bird and drag it out and go back for another one and on and on. I finally caught it and permanently relocated it. Since I put concrete under all of the gates.

Do you know any of the people you Relocated your problem to?
There is a reason that no state allows you to relocate any kind of wildlife (other than state licensed trappers and wildlife officers). Not only does it put your problem on others, the poor animal that is throw into a new environment/area either starves or is killed by other predators in the new area. Plus the few that survive can upset the natural balance of an area.