HELP!!! I LOST MY FLOCK LAST NIGHT!!! SKUNKS???

[banter]

I would say that it was a raccoon and the skunk was making itself available for the leftovers.
A raccoon once ate only the feet of of a dozen quail by pulling them through the chicken wire of their pen. We of course had to kill all the poor suffering things. He was still up in the tree the next morning. If only they would kill to eat it would not be as bad.

 

[Chirpy]

I am heartbroken for you and especially for your young ones. That was a horrible thing to experience. I'm glad you still have some chickens left and hope you can catch and get rid of the culprit.

 

[babyboy1_mom]

I am so sorry for your loss.

I too have recently had a loss of most of my flock. We evacuated for Hurricane Gustav and we came home to 2 dead hens. Over the next few nights, we tried and tried to trap the critter, but was unable to do so. I ended up losing 10 hens to this critter, 6 in one night. He killed them and just left most of them there. He did eat some of the heads, but mostly just killed them. He could not get them out of the coop, so he just killed them and left them.

I know that this is gross, but after baiting the trap with almost every thing, then my DH baited it with one of the dead hens. He figured that the critter was coming for chicken dinner, so he would try to trap it with chicken. Well, we finally caught it and it turned out to be a huge male raccoon. Needless to say, but we do not have to worry about him getting our chickens any more.


Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain and hope that you catch the critter soon.

Good luck.

Dorothy

 

[Bi0sC0mp]

It was a racoon for sure and he will be back.. for bait either use a wet can of cat food, a can of tuna,sunflower seeds or get some dry cat food make a trail leading into the trap where you put a hunk of raw meat chop meat,steak chicken realy dont matter.
good luck and i am so very sorry for your lost..

 

[chick4chicks]

I am so sorry for the loss of your chicks. Sure hope you catch the predator. Hoping your 2 that are left do well.

 

[chick4chicks]

I am so sorry for the loss of your chicks. Sure hope you catch the predator. Hoping your 2 that are left do well.

 

[chick4chicks]

sorry for double post... puter is acting up

 

[pkeeler]

Sorry for your loss

How did it get into your coop?

 

[Cetawin]

The best bait in the world for the coon or a skunk...a can of cat food!

My opinion is that it was a raccoon that killed them and maybe a skunk got some leftovers or was nearby. Raccoons go for the head and neck area.

So sorry you lost them.

 

[jjthink]

So sorry for these losses - to the OP and others who posted with losses. Sorry that I couldn't read all the posts but was wondering if the birds are securely locked up at night and that's where the pred got them or do they stay out at night? Assuming this happened at night?
JJ