It was a bobcat

[Sammimom]

We let our three pet hens free range during the day on our fenced acre, for the past three years. Yesterday I found a bunch of feathers, and no Buffy, under their favorite tree. We have security cameras so after the kiddos went to bed we watched it...a bobcat, quick as can be, caught her and dragged her out of the yard. It was hard to watch. I guess I'm sharing because I know you all understand how hard it is to lose "just a chicken," but also as a reminder that diurnal and nocturnal animals do sometimes hunt in the day. If it had happened 5 minutes sooner I would have been home, and maybe would have heard the noise, as she flapped around for over a minute.

 

[kidcody]

 

[CMV]

I am so sorry. That must have been awful to watch.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I'm so sorry to hear what happened.

I hope the others are safe.

 

[Twiggers96]

I feel your pain.
Just this morning I found clumps of feathers - no body, I was thinking either a bobcat or a fox took away my B.R. (Her name was/is B.R.).
Your post seems to confirm that. Mine were free range too. No problems with their safety until we had to "remove" the rooster this recent Sunday.

WHat kind of chicken cam do you have? Where did you get it from?

 

[Bianca67]

So sorry.

 

[Sammimom]

Thanks guys. Our fence is quite solid so I knew it wasn't a coyote or fox, but we were thinking hawk until we saw the video. We have a full out system of security cameras, but our friends have some brand of wildlife camera which they find very effective. I'll try and find out what it is. I've kept the other two locked up in their little run and only had them out for an hour this morning, I stood out in the rain to eat my breakfast and watch them. I'm going to build a basic chicken tractor so they can scratch in the grass, etc. like they enjoy, but I just don't think we can let them free range again now that there is at least one bobcat who knows there is an easy lunch. Buffy was a Buff Orpington, and she was a typical fat, blond slow Buff and was even blind in one eye from a previous injury. However, this bobcat pounced in the middle of the three of them while they were sitting under their favorite tree, so I'm not sure what tipped the scales for him finally selecting her from the "flock." Probably because she was big and slow. Now I'm worried about our little Maltese dog too, as my friend from a nearby neighborhood saw a bobcat earlier this week carrying someone's (dead) pet cat, and my little Pixie dog is smaller then a lot of cats.

 

[scubagirlwonder]

I am so sorry to hear about you losing your Buff, it sucks so bad to lose any animals, but to watch it back on video had to be torture! Which part of Sammamish do you live in? I just saw a bobcat in Sammamish/Issaquah for the first time last week, it ran across Issaquah-Pine Lake road right by "Rainbow Lake." It ran across and then just stopped on the side of the road and watched the cars go by...I was really surprised to see it in the middle of the day and not skittish like I'd expect from a bobcat! I haven't seen any bobcats (or signs of them) in my neighborhood yet, but we've been having to deal with the black bear that's been roaming our area....(It broke down a couple walls of our chicken run and mauled a 3-week old duckling a few months back....(I posted a bunch about that earlier so I won't bore you with the whole story again...) Then more recently we had a raccoon kill our favorite hen, so it's been a predator heavy few months...Hopefully we're both done with chicken losses for a while, eh?

 

[Sammimom]

We live by Safeway, my friend in Tree Farm saw 2 last week, and my other friend saw one by the small water tower in the neighborhood near where the library used to be. I saw two a couple weeks ago over by the Pine Lake Community Center. I think it's safe to say we have a substantial population of bobcats, because that covers a large area, especially adding in the one you saw. I just wish they didn't like the taste of chicken.

 

[scubagirlwonder]

Quote:
We're South of you, down near Beaver Lake, so that puts us dab smack in the middle of all these bobcats.....Makes me wonder if it was a bobcat that got my hen instead of a racoon, but I doubt a bobcat would have been able to stop at just one and would have instead killed all four....Either way, we've reinforced the run again (there's always improvements to make) and are much more diligent about when we close up the coop for the night, so hopefully we'll be able to fend off more predator attacks for a while! Hope you have better luck as well. Do you have a local breeder/farm where you get your chickens? I'd like to add 2 more birds to my flock...