Horrible day

[LilyD]

My husband let my dog out to the yard today in the early morning as I was getting ready to go out to feed the chickens and he came back to the door barking and growling with his hackles up. I hurried and finished getting dressed and went out to feed to see feathers everywhere in the yard. I followed the feathers to the edge of the fencing and found one of my 2 year old hens on the other side. She was missing one wing and her head and neck and most of her insides were eaten on that one side but the rest of the body was intact. I think that my doberman must have scared off whatever was attacking her as her body had not had time to cool off yet. The coop was about 150 feet from where we found her. From the look of the area it looks like the animal got her around the head or neck and dragged her under the fence near where we found the body.

Any ideas what might have attacked my girl? The coops will be closed up tonight and we will be patrolling for whatever it is. I have my guesses but I want to make sure I am on the right track and would value any insight you might have.

I can post pictures of the body if that would be helpful but it is pretty graphic so I didn't want to do that unless it was necessary.

Thanks in advance.

 

[aart]

Bummer! I'd guess fox. You keep the coop door open at night?

 

[LilyD]

Bummer! I'd guess fox. You keep the coop door open at night?

I have never had a predator problem before today and it's been over 3 years. I have never lost a chicken that was inside the coop yard at night. They will be shut into the coop starting tonight with the gate to their yard shut as well. Both coops have wood floors and doors that are secure so once inside they will be safe for the night.

The area where the animal dragged the chicken under the fence is only between a 1 inch to 2 inch gap so it would need to be something small like a cat, possibly possum or raccoon or skunk. I don't think anything bigger could fit under that small area. My husband said he doesn't think it could be a cat or a coon cause they would be more apt to go over the fence rather than under but the bite area and what was eaten fits with the description of coon. Not really sure like I said never had anything attack any chickens here before unless they had gotten loose and weren't inside the fence.

 

[Mattemma]

Sorry for your loss.3 years for me too,and I just had my first pred attack.Hawk.The worst predator is the one you can not kill.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/6407578/hawk-attack

Night time attackers can be many. I would say set a trap with the hens body as bait right where you found it.Home depot1089 for $44.What you catch might not be the one who killed,so keep resetting the trap.

Yu can set up a game cam or put some flour around the coop to see prints.Me, I would keep traps set 24/7 and start getting rid of what you catch.Havahart,conibear,snares. I have caught over 40 coons and possums.Owls could also attack at night. Probably protected like hawks.Atleast if you lock up in a secure coop they would be safe at night.

Good luck and I hope you don't have more pred losses.

 

[LilyD]

I don't think an owl would have killed like this though. There were four piles of feathers as it dragged her the 150 feet to the fence line. The yard my girls are in is about a 1/4 acre fenced and soon my entire property will be fenced with the exception of my driveway and a small area of lawn in the front. I will be adding an electric fencer to the outside of the fencing to keep the animals out with 19,000 volt charge but until then I need to catch what's getting in right now.

I mentioned a Have a Hart trap to my husband but he wants to talk to the game warden to make sure that will not get us into trouble since baiting wild animals is different than catching one in the act. I will be checking the yard for tracks and the idea of flouring the outside of the coop to hopefully get some tracks is cool. I may be able to do that too. Hoping we catch whatever it is tonight before it gets any more of my girls.

 

[aart]

I have never had a predator problem before today and it's been over 3 years. I have never lost a chicken that was inside the coop yard at night. They will be shut into the coop starting tonight with the gate to their yard shut as well. Both coops have wood floors and doors that are secure so once inside they will be safe for the night.

The area where the animal dragged the chicken under the fence is only between a 1 inch to 2 inch gap so it would need to be something small like a cat, possibly possum or raccoon or skunk. I don't think anything bigger could fit under that small area. My husband said he doesn't think it could be a cat or a coon cause they would be more apt to go over the fence rather than under but the bite area and what was eaten fits with the description of coon. Not really sure like I said never had anything attack any chickens here before unless they had gotten loose and weren't inside the fence.

Interesting that you've had no problems for 3 years. Well, time to change your facilities. Maybe put out a live trap with remains of chicken in it and see what you come up with?

 

[LilyD]

Yeah I will definitely have to be more viligant about locking them in the coop at night. The coops are like little fortresses with wood flooring and solid doors and hardware cloth under the eaves so nothing can get in it at all when it's shut up. Usually they don't like to be shut in so since they run in the same yard as my dog and he is out off and on all day and some of the night until about 10pm and keeps everything out of the yard I felt that they were pretty safe. Whatever this is must have come late night early morning as the body was still fairly warm when I found it. I will be looking around for tracks around where I found the body now that everything has settled down here and hopefully that will give me a better idea what it might be.

I am thinking that when I got rid of the mice and rats that were living in my barn I got rid of a major food source for the wild life so now they are looking at my chickens like dinner. Just can't win.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Wild animals will figure out schedules. I've seen it with the deer coming into our yard after the dog is back in the house and we recently had a weasel figure out our run and coop and the timing of letting them out one morning I changed and I saw him. Smart buggers. Sorry about your hen. and good luck with everything. Sometimes it's good to just S. S. S. too.

 

[ozarkchicks]

sounds sort of like a coon or a skunk to me, sorry about your hen. I think it's a good idea you plan on putting them up at night now