lost many of my birds today...

[kahlua]

Ugh I had a reply typed out but the forum ate it twice.

Oh but I did have one question - does anyone know if foxes bury their kills nearby?
Near each pile of feathers I heard loads of flies buzzing around - but there was no blood and no body that I could see. I'm wondering if maybe the bodies were buried right there?? It seemed a little weird that feathers would attract flies...

I am wondering if I should bring my dogs down through the woods tomorrow to see if they can sniff out any corpses. I'm sure rotting chickens will be irresistible...if they're still out there.

I just wish that whatever it was would have taken some of the boys instead of my favorite girls. Those cockerels are 17-18 weeks now, ready to go to freezer camp. My hubby was supposed to do it last weekend but he asked if we could put it off. Now I am regretting that I didn't push it. The boys have been bothering the girls and I'm thinking the commotion attracted the predator. Another lesson learned...

My coop will look so empty once those boys are gone - from 17 down to 6 (4 girls/2 boys) if no one else makes it home

Oh and if anyone is wondering - my own dogs are never out unsupervised, so I am 100% sure that they didn't get my chickens. I was out all morning and they were crated/kenneled til I got home. We have a neighbor on one side but his dogs are never out off leash - the other neighbor is 1/2 mile up the road, their dog is fenced in and I haven't seen her loose in ages.

 

[brigittej]

i agree with everyone else, dog would kill them and leave them. Raccoons are night folk....we lost 50 birds last month to those rotten beasts.......probably coyote or fox. Hang in there! We're finding it's a marathon....learning as we go!!!

 

[PartyOnARoost]

Ya that would be a GREAT idea to have ur dogs sniff around the woulds trying to sniff the chickens out. I don't know why the flies were there...IT COULD BE THE PREDATORS DROPPINGS THAT ARE ATRACTING THE FLIES! I would lockdown the rest of your chickens in the coop for a while because the predator will be back for more action and may ask his friends to join the party... Whatever you do, you gotta trap it and kill it to mark your territory and they will never come back again. Hope all goes well wanna know what happens tell me when it does !!!

 

[HEChicken]

Oh but I did have one question - does anyone know if foxes bury their kills nearby?
Near each pile of feathers I heard loads of flies buzzing around - but there was no blood and no body that I could see. I'm wondering if maybe the bodies were buried right there?? It seemed a little weird that feathers would attract flies...

Yes - that's EXACTLY what they do. After getting my fox, I decided to read up a bit about them to understand better how they operate. What I learned is that they will go on a killing spree, killing everything they can find, by inflicting multiple bites to the neck and back (one of my birds was paralyzed by a bite through the spinal cord and several had their necks broken). Then they will stash the bodies by burying them so they can dig them up to eat them in the following days. I believe I interrupted my fox the first day, after he had killed a bunch but had only carried away a couple. The next day I interrupted him again and it was at that point that I was able to get him. Once thing: once he knows you are there he WILL be back. I figured whatever had got mine the first day would be back but I guess I was a little surprised it was the very next day.

Oh, one more thing. All throughout that second day, when I went down to the chicken yard I could smell an odd smell. I don't know how to describe it - kind of a musty smell mixed with that odor urine gets after you've eaten asparagus. It was distinct and strong enough that I could smell it even though I don't have a strong sense of smell. I thought at the time that the odor had something to do with the predator and now believe that is the smell of a fox. So if you notice an odd odor around where all this happened, I'd say your problem is the same as mine.

 

[DelDels]

When you build your run you will need to prevent climbing and digging by the predators. Foxes can do both but are likely to climb. I have read that grey foxes climb trees.

You will need hot wire on the bottom and top of the run and/or wire buried 12 inches and wire for the "roof." I know it sounds like a lot of trouble and it is. Unfortunately your place is now the latest fast food joint for predators. I just didn't want you to build a fence and think that the chickens were now safe. There are lots of pictures and good ideas in the coop and run section of the forum.

 

[kahlua]

Thanks, I will do my best to make it secure.
I went out with one of the dogs earlier, she found a pile of feathers that must have been my wonderful BCM hen But no bodies. I will try with another dog when it cools down later on.
One of my little white silkies was down by the coop when I was heading back inside. I'm not sure where she came from but maybe there's hope that more will make it back.

I left the body of the dead cockerel on the brushline last night and set up a camera to see if anything would come back for it, I figured at this point my house is McDonald's anyway so it wouldn't attract more predators than have already come. But nothing. Maybe the fox ate its fill for now

 

[chkn]

Glad you looked around for survivors. You never know, some live ones might show up yet. Some may have jammed themselves under sheds, etc. Very weird that they all went to the other side of the road. It makes it seem that there was more than one attacker. Could be a coyote pack.

 

[kahlua]

I just thought I'd update on my situation. I've been keeping my chickens securely contained, and haven't had any more losses to predators (although I did have a falcon take a dive at one of my young birds while I was standing 10 ft away...). But earlier this week, my neighbor called at about 10:30 AM to let me know that his dogs were going crazy; there was a coyote at the end of his driveway. I'd told him about what had happened to my chickens the week before, so it was very nice of him to call to warn me. And my husband heard yipping and howling two nights later - he said it was definitely more than one coyote.

So it is looking more like at least one coyote got my chickens. They were definitely taken sometime between 7 AM and lunch, so the time of day is right, and the neighbor's driveway isn't too far from where I found many of my chickens...maybe about 100 yards away.

On the bright side, I hatched 5 chicks from the blue ameracuana and BCM hen that were taken. The eggs had been sitting in the fridge for well over a week, so I wasn't sure if they would hatch, but I figured it was worth a try. I got 3 chicks from the ameracuana and 2 from the BCM. They aren't purebred chicks, but the BCM's should be nice olive eggers. I am hoping I get at least one pullet from each of the girls...but it'll be a while before I can tell, they are still very young.

I don't know if coyotes are good news or bad - but maybe knowing will help someone else!

 

[drumstick diva]

the only thing good about the coyotes, is they will probably scare off any foxes.

 

[zazouse]

Na yotes only scare off foxes for a little while they still inhabit the same area, i have seen it on my trail cams, there are also bobs ,coons and such in the same area here, they seem to have an order.