Rcornerranch
Songster
I’m posting this in case anyone might be able to give insight into the predators or just give me a virtual hug. I’ve acted fine, like it wasn’t a big deal, but now that the night is quiet without distractions…It’s kind of hitting me. I lost 4 birds today. I have an empty coop. 
Patient 0? A pile and possible trail of turkey feathers in the brush by the duck coop. It is possible I lost a 4 month poult two weeks ago when they were free ranging and some wander to the duck area to eat the duck food. We have 25 black turkey mix poults for sale—at least that was when I counted last week. It’s very possible I didn’t notice one go missing.
1 duck: I think overnight Wednesday into Thursday I lost a Welsh Harlequin duck, but it could have been sometime Thursday into Friday. I realized there were only three Harlequins when I counted this afternoon and realized she wasn’t in the nesting box being broody over eggs. The four of them are hard to tell apart, so I can’t say which one it was. She was in a group of 12 ducks. Wednesday night they just would not go in the coop. This happened once last week as well. Seems they wanted to play in the pond and eat frogs. I couldn’t get them to come back out. She was the only duck in the coop that night the last I saw her. The same thing happened with the ducks not going in Thursday night. Today, I withheld food to get them motivated to go in. It worked. As far as I could tell, there was no evidence of a struggle. She’s just gone. No signs of broken eggs either.
2 Silver laced Wyandotte hens: I let them out to free range with their rooster, Noni, around 10 am yesterday. I let them free range because they are my savviest and unfriendliest birds and often snuck out of the coop when I went to feed them (that’s why I started letting them free range), but I loved to watch them. They were so much more friendly when they were free ranging. I could never touch them, but they’d follow me and seemed inquisitive. They were so beautiful and charming with their Australorp rooster. I’ve loved watching them roam. One hen really loved him and would run over when he clucked to her and put herself under his wing. I always thought he’d protect them. He was always with them. They seemed so happy. Well, around 4 pm I noticed a big storm approaching and started doing my evening feedings early. At 5, I realized Noni was alone. The storm front was approaching. He was chasing the atv behind me. It was very odd. I kept braking, and he’d run up to me, looking lost. I got out and tried to help him find the girls. He was really looking with me. They were just gone. I made it to the house before the storm hit. There was the rooster in the garage without his girls. I believe the last time I saw them was around noon yesterday before the storm. They never went in the coop for the night. Noni looked for them and called for them until his final moments today. I found two feather piles.
They could be from the same hen, but one of them is certainly deceased. There was also a few feathers stuck in the brush that suggested the birds were carried away. The feathers were a bit lower than a foot in the air. I believe in my heart they were both killed yesterday behind my goat pens. I can’t believe I didn’t hear it. I haven’t found any bodies yet. I have seen two dogs wandering back there before. Dogs, coyotes, bob cats, foxes, skunks, raccoons, owls, and hawks are here. I have never lost a bird to predators. I think it must have been something by land to have the feathers in the two spots and a trail through brush. I’m still hoping one girl will show up.
4: My little turd rooster, Noni. I loved him but hated him. He was the sweetest chicken when he was under 6 months old. He would fly to me and into my arms. I called him my potato. Puberty hit. He became a giant turd. He attacked me many times. I always reminded myself that he was just instinctively protecting his girls and their territory. One day he would probably have to go. I started spraying him with a hose and that really helped curb his aggressive behavior. He looked for his girls this morning and decided to follow my dad then attack him while working on a project outside. He spurred my dad and got him in the leg pretty good. My dad knocked him out with a nearby stick and dispatched him with his knife. I wish I hadn’t seen the body hanging from the goat pen without warning. It really shocked me, but I buried my emotions and tried to act casual about it. I was hoping the rooster would call the hens back at this point because I didn’t know they had been taken by a predator. Noni didn’t have a single mark on his body from whatever went after his hens. It seems he either wasn’t with the girls when it happened or ran and left them for dead. When I saw the feathers from his girls, I knew he failed. If they were gone…he needed to be with them. He failed us, the hens, and himself. I believe he wanted to be with them wherever they went. Without the girls, he was like a ghost. We have other roosters with hens and kept him for his special and sweet relationship with the Wyandotte girls. Now he is with them again. I hope you found them, Noni. I know Sylvie Silver Laced forgives you. I don’t think you understood what was going on in your chicken brain. I forgive you for all the attacks and hope you are having fun on adventures to the creek with your girls.
Rest In Peace all my lost feathered friends!
Patient 0? A pile and possible trail of turkey feathers in the brush by the duck coop. It is possible I lost a 4 month poult two weeks ago when they were free ranging and some wander to the duck area to eat the duck food. We have 25 black turkey mix poults for sale—at least that was when I counted last week. It’s very possible I didn’t notice one go missing.
1 duck: I think overnight Wednesday into Thursday I lost a Welsh Harlequin duck, but it could have been sometime Thursday into Friday. I realized there were only three Harlequins when I counted this afternoon and realized she wasn’t in the nesting box being broody over eggs. The four of them are hard to tell apart, so I can’t say which one it was. She was in a group of 12 ducks. Wednesday night they just would not go in the coop. This happened once last week as well. Seems they wanted to play in the pond and eat frogs. I couldn’t get them to come back out. She was the only duck in the coop that night the last I saw her. The same thing happened with the ducks not going in Thursday night. Today, I withheld food to get them motivated to go in. It worked. As far as I could tell, there was no evidence of a struggle. She’s just gone. No signs of broken eggs either.
2 Silver laced Wyandotte hens: I let them out to free range with their rooster, Noni, around 10 am yesterday. I let them free range because they are my savviest and unfriendliest birds and often snuck out of the coop when I went to feed them (that’s why I started letting them free range), but I loved to watch them. They were so much more friendly when they were free ranging. I could never touch them, but they’d follow me and seemed inquisitive. They were so beautiful and charming with their Australorp rooster. I’ve loved watching them roam. One hen really loved him and would run over when he clucked to her and put herself under his wing. I always thought he’d protect them. He was always with them. They seemed so happy. Well, around 4 pm I noticed a big storm approaching and started doing my evening feedings early. At 5, I realized Noni was alone. The storm front was approaching. He was chasing the atv behind me. It was very odd. I kept braking, and he’d run up to me, looking lost. I got out and tried to help him find the girls. He was really looking with me. They were just gone. I made it to the house before the storm hit. There was the rooster in the garage without his girls. I believe the last time I saw them was around noon yesterday before the storm. They never went in the coop for the night. Noni looked for them and called for them until his final moments today. I found two feather piles.
They could be from the same hen, but one of them is certainly deceased. There was also a few feathers stuck in the brush that suggested the birds were carried away. The feathers were a bit lower than a foot in the air. I believe in my heart they were both killed yesterday behind my goat pens. I can’t believe I didn’t hear it. I haven’t found any bodies yet. I have seen two dogs wandering back there before. Dogs, coyotes, bob cats, foxes, skunks, raccoons, owls, and hawks are here. I have never lost a bird to predators. I think it must have been something by land to have the feathers in the two spots and a trail through brush. I’m still hoping one girl will show up.4: My little turd rooster, Noni. I loved him but hated him. He was the sweetest chicken when he was under 6 months old. He would fly to me and into my arms. I called him my potato. Puberty hit. He became a giant turd. He attacked me many times. I always reminded myself that he was just instinctively protecting his girls and their territory. One day he would probably have to go. I started spraying him with a hose and that really helped curb his aggressive behavior. He looked for his girls this morning and decided to follow my dad then attack him while working on a project outside. He spurred my dad and got him in the leg pretty good. My dad knocked him out with a nearby stick and dispatched him with his knife. I wish I hadn’t seen the body hanging from the goat pen without warning. It really shocked me, but I buried my emotions and tried to act casual about it. I was hoping the rooster would call the hens back at this point because I didn’t know they had been taken by a predator. Noni didn’t have a single mark on his body from whatever went after his hens. It seems he either wasn’t with the girls when it happened or ran and left them for dead. When I saw the feathers from his girls, I knew he failed. If they were gone…he needed to be with them. He failed us, the hens, and himself. I believe he wanted to be with them wherever they went. Without the girls, he was like a ghost. We have other roosters with hens and kept him for his special and sweet relationship with the Wyandotte girls. Now he is with them again. I hope you found them, Noni. I know Sylvie Silver Laced forgives you. I don’t think you understood what was going on in your chicken brain. I forgive you for all the attacks and hope you are having fun on adventures to the creek with your girls.
Rest In Peace all my lost feathered friends!
I have never had experience before with predators other than hawks so I don't know what predators it would have been. I hope that someone comes and gives you some insight on what could have happened. RIP to your birds!
