Lost my top girl today. 😢

[cmom]

So sorry for you loss. I invested in some game cameras. I put them up in different places and was amazed at the predators that roam here during the nighttime. I have had birds killed in the past around dusk and dawn by owls, during the day coyote, hawk and fox, night fox, coyote, bobcat, possum and owl. I have trapped and eliminated predators that have killed my birds except birds of prey which are legally protected. My coops and pens are pretty secure. I have electric wires around my coops and pens which keeps out most predators. I have concrete under the gates due to a fox and heavy duty netting covering the pens because of mostly aerial predators but years ago I did have a coyote go over a 5' fence into a pen and back out with some birds that also went over the fence to try to get away from the coyote. I did get a shot at the coyote but I had bird shot in my gun so even though I'm sure I hit it, I didn't kill it. My favorite bird was killed during the day while dust bathing. I was out painting on the coops. It just sneaked in and got her. I caught the fox and eliminated it too. I don't bury the birds outside of the pens because coyotes would dig up the bodies, so now I bury any dead birds in their pens. Good luck...
Last night.

 

[Molly Mojo]

So sorry for you loss. I invested in some game cameras. I put them up in different places and was amazed at the predators that roam here during the nighttime. I have had birds killed in the past around dusk and dawn by owls, during the day coyote, hawk and fox, night fox, coyote, bobcat, possum and owl. I have trapped and eliminated predators that have killed my birds except birds of prey which are legally protected. My coops and pens are pretty secure. I have electric wires around my coops and pens which keeps out most predators. I have concrete under the gates due to a fox and heavy duty netting covering the pens because of mostly aerial predators but years ago I did have a coyote go over a 5' fence into a pen and back out with some birds that also went over the fence to try to get away from the coyote. I did get a shot at the coyote but I had bird shot in my gun so even though I'm sure I hit it, I didn't kill it. My favorite bird was killed during the day while dust bathing. I was out painting on the coops. It just sneaked in and got her. I caught the fox and eliminated it too. I don't bury the birds outside of the pens because coyotes would dig up the bodies, so now I bury any dead birds in their pens. Good luck...
Last night.
View attachment 2243064

Chupacabra

 

[cmom]

If you see one

 

[birdlady11]

I know exactly how you feel. It always seems that your favorite is the one that gets picked off. It is sad and frustrating but know that you are not alone. Most of us who have had chickens long enough will eventually feel that pain of loss.

I've been a wildlife rehabilitator and worked with wildlife for more than 45 years, lived in the country in a predator-rich environment all my life (first in PA and then in Florida for the last 30+ years), and have lost my share of chickens to predators. From your description of a daytime loss, just the head being taken, very few scattered feathers, and your other chickens in deep hiding, I would have to say this sounds like an aerial attack by a hawk. In my experience, most hawks can kill with very few loss of feathers and usually start with the head. An attack from the sky will cause your other chickens to hide under whatever cover they can find, be very still and usually quiet so as to avoid another attack from above.

In my experience, raccoon attacks usually follow a chase (even a short one) with lots of chicken hollering, a trail of lots of feathers as they have to wrestle the bird down, and obvious bite wounds on the back of the neck, lower back, and legs. The coons who have helped themselves to a chicken dinner at my house don't go for the head first but start on muscle mass (legs and chest). Meanwhile, all my other chickens are hollering and running from the scene at top speed.

While most raccoons prefer to look for food at night, female coons with VERY young babies will almost always food search during the day for several reasons: 1) All the other predators that would eat her babies if they found them are out during the night so the safest time to leave her babies is during the day when those other predators are sleeping; 2) Very young babies chill down and become hypothermic very quickly without their mother's body heat at night but during the day when the temperature rises the mom can leave her babies to go find food without the babies becoming dangerously chilled. Coons also do not like to stay out in the open especially during the day, preferring to drag their meal to a more hidden place to eat in safety, especially if this was a teenage chicken and light enough for a raccoon to easily move it a more hidden place before beginning to eat.

I'm glad that you are so willing to accept "farm life" and have decided to close the restaurant by enclosing a pen for your girls rather than killing anything that might be the culprit of your loss. It isn't always easy to learn how to share your world with the wildlife around you who are just trying to survive. It's more work to ensure that you keep your girls safe but much more rewarding to know that you can still enjoy your chickens and live and let live.

I'm so sorry for your loss and I wish you and your flock the best in the future.

 

[Cheeki]

I feel like all chicken owners always lose their favorite bird. Out of our first ever flock we had a red sex link we named Curry because she was very courageous and would come up to us and it was nice. She ended up being killed by a stray dog. We have since fenced in our yard to make it more difficult for strays to get near out of nowhere.

There are a lot of predators that will chop off heads. I can’t think of any at the top of my head but I think weasels and raccoons and stuff. I much rather find feathers at the crime scene knowing my bird was at least a meal to a wild animal than just a dead corpse that can only be buried, burned, or thrown away.

Possums will take the head off. That happened a couple or three months ago to my best broody. I caught the possum eating duck eggs. It was it’s last meal.