Losing Silkies

[Off island chickens]

Help please. We recently added 4 young silkies to our flock of 10 hens and 1 non aggressive rooster. Our birds are enclosed in appropriate fencing buried in the ground and doubled 18 inches up, about 8 feet tall and enclosed on the top. One by one something attacked our silkies and we found them beheaded and entrails exposed or missing. We can find no way predators can get in. Does anyone have any idea how this might be happening? Any similar experience or any advice. Thank you.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My guess would be mink, or weasel, which can get into the tiniest of holes and often just eat the heads.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

It could be a mink or a weasel but it's hard to say. Really look at your enclosure, every inch of it. Something could have squeezed through an area easily overlooked. Minks and weasels can really contort their bodies and get through spots that can surprise people. A bottle cap sized hole could let a weasel through. Minks need a bit larger of an opening but not a whole lot more.

Raccoons can squeeze through areas that are just a few inches. They don't look it, but under all that hair they are actually pretty lanky. I've personally seen huge raccoons stuff themselves into little squirrel holes in trees.

Maybe posts some pictures of your setup? What kind of wire are you using for the sides and top?

You're lucky whatever it is is practicing control, as a lot of times a predator will kill every bird in one go. Whatever it is will be back until they're all gone so you have to act quickly.

 

[B Redhawk]

One other thing that will give you a clue is where the dead birds are laying when you find them. Raccoons don't have to get inside to kill a chicken, they can reach through fence unless the holes are small enough. Mink and weasel can fit through a hole that only their head can get through. Good luck, it sounds like you need a trap to set outside of the coop set up.