Killed during the day!?!?

[Lovingchicken]

This post relates to me as we just lost one of our year old hens yesterday in the middle of the day. We had two hens and 21 chicks around 10 weeks old (about half roosters). We are shocked that there were no feathers of our missing full grown hen. We have a neighbor dog who has killed one of our hens but he left her in the yard (as we caught him in action). Our yard is surrounded by a corn field which this particular hen has went in a couple rows deep to scratch and search. With there being no signs of feathers, we didn't know if she got lost in the field or if something snatched her from the field???? We have a large yard and can't really put a fence up unless it's cheap. Any ideas?

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! Sorry for your loss. Whatever critter got you hen will return for more. Lock them in their safe run and coop for a while. You can set live traps around the coop, and/or a game cam if you really want to know. It could have been any dog, fox, coyote, weasel, bobcat, whatever predators in your area. Free ranging birds are easy pickings for so many predators, and it's always a risk for them. Mary

 

[Sjisty]

So sorry for your loss! My guess would be a fox or coyote. A dog usually kills for the fun of it and leaves the bodies. Foxes and coyotes take the bodies to eat or feed their young.

 

[Semper]

Well we are redoing our horse tack room and i had to put it out of my box and its taken a little longer then i thought as i have a lot of stuff and im trying to work with my horses and work two jobs, plus take care of everything else. and my cat will hunt and wonder as its nice out so if i put some out she may not eat it for a few hours or more depending on where shes at and what shes doing.

 

[bolob74]

My best suggestion is to keep an eye out and pack some heat. You most likely have a coyote or fox issue. If they are coming after your flock that means their normal food is running low. Eventually they will get brave and show themselves and that is when you put them down. I found that to be the only way to eliminate the fox and coyote problems. If you have a hay field take the time to watch over it for an evening and morning while its sawed down in nice rows. The predators like to check out what small critters are hiding in the rows hoping to get a meal. You may have some long shots and miss a few of them but they will at least be deterred for a while. Good luck.

 

[dekel18042]

We have a large yard and can't really put a fence up unless it's cheap. Any ideas?

Some of our neighbors have large areas fenced in. They've used the metal posts hammered into the ground and then wire unrolled and hung on the posts. That's quite inexpensive compared to other types of fences and large areas (or smaller ones) can be fenced in quite reasonably.

 

[norcalhorseman]

Lost my 2 week old Buff Silkie to a Scrub Jay last Friday. I felt so horrible. Looked at game camera and saw a scrub jay. There was no trace just gone and my 3 RIR were hiding in a corner in their coop and wouldn't come out for a while till I showed them a dead one. Thinned them out with a .22 pellet gun and haven't seen any land on the property since. R.I.P "Mini Me" God I miss that bird so much. I now have 5 more RIR about a week old and 3 black silkies about the same age in addition to the 3 Older RIR which are about a month old now. I miss the little buff silkie though and haven't been able to find anymore at this time.

 

[Semper]

I lost two 4 month olds, and three 2-3 year olds. And have 24 Easter eggers, about three weeks old now. The rest of mine stay near coop and the little ones that are 4 months won't leave the coop!!! They are all starting to venture but still not going far.

 

[WildAnimalGuy]

Set a bunch of snares, the more the better fence line where they cross. Or call a trapper..Good luck

 

[thomasboyle]

Wow! Great Job catching the Bobcat on your camera! So what did you do? Do you still let your chickens out during the day?

I let them out each day, usually when I get home from work at 5:30 until 8:30pm. On weekends they are out longer. My cameras have told me that the bobcat comes around in the morning and afternoon. Most of my pictures are taken between 7am and 3pm. My guess is he does not come around in the evening because the coyotes are coming out then. The electric fence has done a great job of keeping the birds safe. The bobcat could easily jump the 4' fence, but he stays away.