HELP!!

[ValerieJ]

Sounds more like a Fox or Mink.I just couldn't see a Raptor killing so many birds all at once.Set up some trail camera's and bait the trail cam area with one of the dead chickens. I had a fox take three ducks a few years ago one completely missing the other two were in the far back of my property with there heads completely gone

I was thinking maybe more than one raptor. I watch our bald eagles often as their nest is just up the river from me. Unless they have eggs or young babies in the nest, they hunt together. We've had this same couple for at least 5 years. Their young is old enough to be left while they hunt and they are out together again. They will sit on either side of the river and watch for salmon. Unfortunately we have very few fish this year due to a hatchery mistake. It is amazing how few ducks I see on the river this year too. So, on the same day, I had the attack I described and my neighbor lost two young chickens and a young duck. Granted we have more birds of prey than just the BEs. It's obvious there is a shortage of food this year for them. Neither of us have any indication that a land predator got inside the runs, and the attacks happened during the day. But, we all live in different areas where we have different sorts of predators. I wouldn't worry about a weasel here because we don't have weasels, for example. I would worry about a raccoon or a cougar. Also I'm assuming they are in a fenced run. Free range presents a whole different puzzle to solve.

 

[MinniesMomma]

Hello all! I have some sad news... last night I came home and 7 of my hens were gone and 1 of my female ducks was gone. I had been away for the weekend and was having my neighbor do chores(he has done them multiple times) I am 100% positive that the night before they had all gotten locked up. So... my neighbor locked them all up Saturday night and then at about 5pm on Sunday, he called me and told me that one of my Wyandotte’s(who was a VERY large bird)was dead and it was laying on his front porch. He said that she didn’t have any cuts or wounds, but she did have blood coming from her mouth/beak. He then called me about an hour later and proceeded to tell me that 7 of my laying hens were gone, and one of my female ducks was also gone. My chickens and ducks are EXTREMELY good about going into their coop at night, so this was alarming. I arrived home probably 20 minutes and began to look for the missing birds. We did manage to find my blue Copper Maran that wasn’t hurt at all but was pretty traumatized, and also a light Brahma that was not in good shape. She had a small wound and was laying on her side. We also found a few small wounds on the hens that were in the coop when we got home. Later that night we found 1 of my buff orpingtons that was sadly dead... very dead. Her head was gone but her body wasn’t touched, and she was left pretty close to my house in my lawn. I did find plenty of feathers scattered around my property but not the other 4 hens and 1 Duck that I was missing sorry for the long story but this is finally the part that I need your guys’ help with. What predator could do this? I think maybe a fox, but I don’t know how. It was in the daylight and there were people and dogs home. I have horses that didn’t make any noise, and my neighbors say that they didn’t even hear squawking. Why would the missing hens be scattered everywhere... first 3 were found near my neighbors house across the field from me, and then the other half eaten one was found close to my house. I have seen a fox in my field for probably a week know, but I just don’t know how this could be a Fox. Why would it hunt in the daylight and why would it come that close to my house? Any ideas? Thank you(again sorry for this long story

Sorry for what you're going through!
It sounds like a fox or maybe raccoon. Foxes definitely do hunt during the day... I had one feeding on my hens for months before I finally saw it. There were no bodies left behind, just feathers here and there. It was taking them elsewhere to eat. And it was during the day that I finally killed it.
I haven't had problems with raccoons (yet) but I've heard that they will kill just for the sport of it.

 

[ValerieJ]

If it were a raptor, do they scatter bodies? I don’t think an eagle could kill all of the others by small bites, though. Maybe weasel or mink?

The scattered bodies is a bit of a mystery, isn't it? I don't know what predator, raptor or animal, would do that actually. I do know the raptors cannot carry them if they are big and so will consume them where they are at least until they get to a size they can lift. I watch the eagles do that with a large salmon all the time. I also know chickens are more agile on the ground than an eagle and I think that's how Ethel got away. The trail of feathers Shirl left behind tells a tale of a long struggle. Her body was there. I'll leave it at that. Too gruesome already.

 

[Henriettamom919]

I'm very sorry for your losses!

I agree either Fox or something in the weasel family! Time for electric fencing and a game camera to shut this b%#$@ down!!!

I'm so sorry!

 

[ValerieJ]

Sounds more like a Fox or Mink.I just couldn't see a Raptor killing so many birds all at once.Set up some trail camera's and bait the trail cam area with one of the dead chickens. I had a fox take three ducks a few years ago one completely missing the other two were in the far back of my property with there heads completely gone

See, it's the missing heads that make me think of birds of prey. What animal is only going to eat the head, and not the body? If the raptor is carrying it by the head, the weight of the body makes it separate from the head. so, when this happened to my hen a couple years ago, the eagle couldn't come back for the body because it dropped into a space between the coop and a storage bin so there was no room for him to swoop in. Also, I found her too soon after this happened and he might not have had the opportunity to come for her yet.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Which side of WA are you? Not really any foxes West, are there?

Coyote who was in it partially for sport and partially for food springs to mind!

 

[ValerieJ]

Which side of WA are you? Not really any foxes West, are there?

Coyote who was in it partially for sport and partially for food springs to mind!

You mean me? I'm in SW Washington on the Cowlitz River. I have never seen a fox here, but we do have coyotes and at least one cougar and bear have been spotted. We do have raccoons, but Ethel would never have gotten away from a raccoon, particularly judging by where her feathers were scattered. And there is no indication of land entry to the run. In my case, we know it's the eagles. They have been seen sitting in the trees near our runs for the last week. This is new and unusual behavior for them.

 

[RyleeandMax]

Do they free range during the day?

Yes, but they are usually around my house and not out in the open fields.

 

[Henriettamom919]

You mean me? I'm in SW Washington on the Cowlitz River. I have never seen a fox here, but we do have coyotes and at least one cougar and bear have been spotted. We do have raccoons, but Ethel would never have gotten away from a raccoon, particularly judging by where her feathers were scattered. And there is no indication of land entry to the run. In my case, we know it's the eagles. They have been seen sitting in the trees near our runs for the last week. This is new and unusual behavior for them.

I did mean you and I'm not even going to lie, I totally mixed you up with the OP while reading responses

That being said we have a persistent Eagle, as well. He's old enough to be fully feathered but still quite small by area standards so I can sympathize! He tried to steal one of my hens while I was working in the yard not ten feet away!

And you know, being Bald Eagles and the nation's symbol of freedom, blah, blah, blah it's not like we can even pelt them with the BB gun! Cocky jerks, if you ask me!

 

[RyleeandMax]

I think it was a weasel. They are vicious little things, and go after anything that moves, and won’t stop until everyone is dead. A weasel got 2 of my feather babies a while back. They looked perfectly fine except for a little blood on their heads and faces. The next night it returned and got our little bantam polish. Body was untouched on the ground, but without a head. We found the head in the chicken feeder.

I thought about that too, but my hens are fully grown hens and fairly large, also 4 of my girls and 1 Duck are completely gone. Only a few feathers are still here. Can weasels carry they completely away even if they are big. I haven’t had any problems with weasels in the past so I am completely new to them.