It had to happen sometime...

[ccrow]

I got my first chickens in May 2010, and although we've had predators around and neighbors have lost birds, mine seemed to be living a charmed life. But now it looks like we've had our first loss to a predator; it was getting toward dusk and I heard a hen making a racket. I went out and she was in the pen, with five of the birds already in the coop on the roost. I looked around and one of the girls was nowhere to be seen... nothing else, either. It was still fairly light so I went in for a few minutes and came back out to find the three who were not already roosting had come up onto the front porch, apparently intending to roost on the railing rather than go to the coop. Not a good sign.

I coaxed them to the coop and got everyone situated, then after closing them in for the night, I went looking around with a flashlight. There were feathers all around behind the coop... no blood, no tracks that I could see but there is very little snow. I know we have foxes around, and I guess owls could be here by now. I guess I will have to keep my eyes open, as I'm sure whatever it was will be back for more. And of course the missing girl was my grandkids' favorite...

 

[Mzyla]

Foxes usually carry the chicken out where they live and where they can eat it peacefully or feed their of springs.
As with any predator - once he knows where the easy prey is - he will be back.
You need to do anything in your power to protect them.
Very sorry for your loss - it is always hard...

 

[ccrow]

Update- when I took my dogs for a walk last night, they found a wing...

My neighbor up the road said that she saw a gray fox near her paddock yesterday, and her chickens were spooked all day. And I think it was really still a bit too light for it to have been an owl, so it's seeming more likely it was a fox. The thing is, a couple of my dogs were outside on their runs, and although they barked, they didn't seem particularly agitated when I went to check. If only I could explain to them that they need to tell me when they see *that* kind of critter, just not when a squirrel is going across the road!