Help: Need Help Collecting Chicken & Predator Stories

[skullgrrrl]

I write a chicken blog and have been working on a series related to illnesses/emergencies and have come to the end of the issues I've dealt with first hand (i.e. prolapsed vent, split beak, assisted hatches, bumblefoot, egg binding). I have very little experience with predator attacks.

I'm looking for folks willing to tell me their stories and if possible provide photos of your bird. I will do further research, work on the article and send you the draft before it's posted. You'll be given credit for your contribution.

I've posted on several chicken FB groups and have formed some happy collaborations and am looking to expand to issues related to chickens emergencies and predator attacks.

If you want to check out my blog or talk to me please feel free to contact me directly.

 

[Kessel23]

I have had several predator attacks but i'm not a great story teller.
One day late last winter I let my birds out for a bit while I was getting them fresh water and food. When I locked them back up I did not realize one was missing, she must have went into the barn to lay an egg or something. When it got dark that hen could not get in the coop so she roosted by a window.

When I came out the next morning I saw these feathers on the driveway and knew one of the birds had gotten killed. I tracked it down and it was underneath my other chicken coop.

Another predator attack we had was on our second coop, if I remember correctly it was during the summer time and we had a window open with a fan in it and a raccoon climbed through and tried to kill a rooster, failed, then killed a drake.

The rooster was actually outside of the coop when I came out, so he managed to fly out the window the coon came in during the dark.

The most recent racoon attack I have had was just a week or two ago. A racoon ripped through the bottom of a door and killed a duck. I blocked the hole with a few boards and two flagstones. I am in school right now and it's the middle of winter so I did not, and still do not, have time to make and put up a new door. I have used that flagstone board method for years before to block the chicken hole on my coop in the night before we had a roof on the run and I never had a problem with it. Well this time a racoon eventually broke through it and attacked another rooster, could not kill it, so it killed a drake. I don't have any pictures of the dead ducks but I do have one of the rooster and thanks to my game cameras I have some of the racoon. I had to cull this rooster, he lost a lot of blood, was lethargic, cold, could not eat, and could not drink. He was not digesting food either as he had a partially full crop for the whole day and next morning I kept him alive in my room to see if a recovery was possible.

This was a few days after that racoon got in and ripped up the door, the boards and flag stones are on the ground there.

This coon was trying to get in for around 2 hours and 20 minutes and he finally managed to knock over a stone.

I still have the same door up right now. I used a chicken tractor to block it and hold up the boards, I have not had a problem and it has been 9 days. The coon has come around a few times but could not get in.

These are pretty much the only successful predator attacks I have had in the past 3 years, well the ones that I remember and have pictures of. Other than these I had a mink kill rabbits last January and we had a dog attack our chickens a few months ago. We have had several hawk attacks only one was ever successful and that was over 7 years ago now.

 

[Trish1974]

I saved two of my neighbor's Easter Eggers from fox attacks almost 2 years ago. Once saved, I made them mine. My neighbor insists on free-ranging his flock even though he is well aware of our predator load and has lost close to 50 birds in the past 3 years.

My birds are contained in a predator-proof Fort Knox style run surrounded by electric fencing with security cameras. His (the neighbor) flock frequently roams onto my property. One spring morning I was walking out my front door and was bombarded by this little Easter Egger flying up into my face. I jumped back, she landed on the porch, flew up on my porch swing as I looked up to see a fox only 3 feet from my porch running off in the opposite direction. She was obviously in shock, so I ran out to my garage, got an extra dog kennel and scooped her up, put her in the kennel and took her into my utility room to recover. She was roughed up but no abrasions that I could see.
This is Mutton Chops right after her rescue:

And this is Mutton Chops now:

After this incident I started "fox hunting" every morning. That consisted of me either on my back deck with the .22 LR watching for it or hanging out the upstairs window sniper-style. I had many, MANY close calls but I never did get a clear shot on either of the two foxes that were hunting on my land. Three weeks after the Mutton Chops incident, I had come inside after fox hunting, plopped down with a cup of coffee in front of the TV, flipped on the monitor to the security cameras that are on the chicken run, and not 10 minutes later I see one of the neighbor's chickens frantically trying to get into the run with my chickens. Poor thing had to have been getting zapped by the electric fence but she was determined to get in that run! Luckily I had the .22 sitting right by the back door, so I grabbed it and ran outside and see a fox carrying her off down the lane that runs along the side of my woods. I was afraid I would hit her if I shot at him so I shot up in the air, and the fox dropped her. He immediately grabbed her again so I shot again and he dropped her. Same thing, he went for her again so I just started shooting rapid fire; completely unloaded the clip in the air and that fox was GONE! He ran one way and the hen ran in the opposite direction into my woods. I found her huddled up against the tree and picked her up and brought her in the house. Luckily I had just moved the first hen into the integration coop outside and still had the kennel in my utility room. She had three puncture wounds in her back and was completely scalped in front of her tail and half her tail was missing. I cleaned the wounds and treated them with anti-bacterial cream until she was ready to go into the integration coop with her sister. My boyfriend named her LF (Lucky F****r), but I just call her Lucky. Here she is upon rescue:

And here she is about 3 months later:

Both hens are healthy and happy and living the rest of their lives out in my layer flock. They both give me beautiful blue eggs.

I would like to add before either of these incidents happened, I talked to my neighbor about the fox problem and mentioned to him "I see your missing some chickens". "I am?" was his reply. He didn't even know he was missing any. I told him I see fox about every morning and found some kill sites on my land (which was his ISA Browns), he just shrugged and said "Oh well, I don't have a way to lock them up so they will just have to fend for themselves." That is why I kept these birds. I rescued them, I'm keeping them! They would have surely met a grim demise like the rest of his birds if I just turned a blind eye to the situation. I am not a chicken thief, I am a chicken rescuer!

 

[skullgrrrl]

I have had several predator attacks but i'm not a great story teller.
One day late last winter I let my birds out for a bit while I was getting them fresh water and food. When I locked them back up I did not realize one was missing, she must have went into the barn to lay an egg or something. When it got dark that hen could not get in the coop so she roosted by a window.

When I came out the next morning I saw these feathers on the driveway and knew one of the birds had gotten killed. I tracked it down and it was underneath my other chicken coop.

Another predator attack we had was on our second coop, if I remember correctly it was during the summer time and we had a window open with a fan in it and a raccoon climbed through and tried to kill a rooster, failed, then killed a drake.

The rooster was actually outside of the coop when I came out, so he managed to fly out the window the coon came in during the dark.

The most recent racoon attack I have had was just a week or two ago. A racoon ripped through the bottom of a door and killed a duck. I blocked the hole with a few boards and two flagstones. I am in school right now and it's the middle of winter so I did not, and still do not, have time to make and put up a new door. I have used that flagstone board method for years before to block the chicken hole on my coop in the night before we had a roof on the run and I never had a problem with it. Well this time a racoon eventually broke through it and attacked another rooster, could not kill it, so it killed a drake. I don't have any pictures of the dead ducks but I do have one of the rooster and thanks to my game cameras I have some of the racoon. I had to cull this rooster, he lost a lot of blood, was lethargic, cold, could not eat, and could not drink. He was not digesting food either as he had a partially full crop for the whole day and next morning I kept him alive in my room to see if a recovery was possible.

This was a few days after that racoon got in and ripped up the door, the boards and flag stones are on the ground there.

This coon was trying to get in for around 2 hours and 20 minutes and he finally managed to knock over a stone.

I still have the same door up right now. I used a chicken tractor to block it and hold up the boards, I have not had a problem and it has been 9 days. The coon has come around a few times but could not get in. View attachment 1652622
These are pretty much the only successful predator attacks I have had in the past 3 years, well the ones that I remember and have pictures of. Other than these I had a mink kill rabbits last January and we had a dog attack our chickens a few months ago. We have had several hawk attacks only one was ever successful and that was over 7 years ago now.

Thanks - I will save this material and try to turn it into an article. Can you send me your email contact so I know how to contact you?

 

[skullgrrrl]

I have had several predator attacks but i'm not a great story teller.
One day late last winter I let my birds out for a bit while I was getting them fresh water and food. When I locked them back up I did not realize one was missing, she must have went into the barn to lay an egg or something. When it got dark that hen could not get in the coop so she roosted by a window.

When I came out the next morning I saw these feathers on the driveway and knew one of the birds had gotten killed. I tracked it down and it was underneath my other chicken coop.

Another predator attack we had was on our second coop, if I remember correctly it was during the summer time and we had a window open with a fan in it and a raccoon climbed through and tried to kill a rooster, failed, then killed a drake.

The rooster was actually outside of the coop when I came out, so he managed to fly out the window the coon came in during the dark.

The most recent racoon attack I have had was just a week or two ago. A racoon ripped through the bottom of a door and killed a duck. I blocked the hole with a few boards and two flagstones. I am in school right now and it's the middle of winter so I did not, and still do not, have time to make and put up a new door. I have used that flagstone board method for years before to block the chicken hole on my coop in the night before we had a roof on the run and I never had a problem with it. Well this time a racoon eventually broke through it and attacked another rooster, could not kill it, so it killed a drake. I don't have any pictures of the dead ducks but I do have one of the rooster and thanks to my game cameras I have some of the racoon. I had to cull this rooster, he lost a lot of blood, was lethargic, cold, could not eat, and could not drink. He was not digesting food either as he had a partially full crop for the whole day and next morning I kept him alive in my room to see if a recovery was possible.

This was a few days after that racoon got in and ripped up the door, the boards and flag stones are on the ground there.

This coon was trying to get in for around 2 hours and 20 minutes and he finally managed to knock over a stone.

I still have the same door up right now. I used a chicken tractor to block it and hold up the boards, I have not had a problem and it has been 9 days. The coon has come around a few times but could not get in. View attachment 1652622
These are pretty much the only successful predator attacks I have had in the past 3 years, well the ones that I remember and have pictures of. Other than these I had a mink kill rabbits last January and we had a dog attack our chickens a few months ago. We have had several hawk attacks only one was ever successful and that was over 7 years ago now.

Thanks - I will save this material and try to turn it into an article. Can you send me your email contact so I know how to contact you?

 

[centrarchid]

I have good owl stuff with pictures. A known weasel kill also.

 

[Brahmachicken240]

Lots of stories about the fox coming succeeding and failing to get my birds.

It’s mostly ducks that have been taken as they tend to be out longer in the evening than my chickens and guineas. I’ve recently moved my ducks to the barn so they can safely go in there at night.
Haven’t had a problem since

About a month ago I caught the fox coming up the lane and I heard my guineas going crazy, so I run out chase the little rascal away only to see my guineas running down the lane after him .

Don’t have any gruesome photos for you though....

Here’s a pic of the guineas

 

[skullgrrrl]

I have good owl stuff with pictures. A known weasel kill also.

Can you post them? Thanks

 

[centrarchid]

I have lots of owl observations. Do you want a single event or some sort of compilation?

 

[Kessel23]

Thanks - I will save this material and try to turn it into an article. Can you send me your email contact so I know how to contact you?

Yeah, I can send you my email but I don't check it often, I check BYC more frequently so contacting me through a conversation would be a better way to get ahold of me. I also had a turkey jake get killed by dogs back in november, I set the dead body up in the woods with a game cam over it and have plenty of pictures of raccoons, possums, and feral cats feeding off of it. It's not really a predator attack but if you want more pictures of them feeding off of poultry I can send you some of those too.