- Feb 22, 2010
- 30
- 1
- 22
Hi everyone,
Well, over the last two nights, we lost our entire flock of 18 birds. We've had these chickens since last year. In the spring, we built a wood coop raised off the ground. We've had no extreme predator problems. We lost one chicken to a hawk during the late summer and one chicken to a racoon in early fall. (We think it was a racoon because it's head and crop were missing with the neck pulled through the fencing. Also, happened during daylight hours.) We've had no problems at night and the coop has appeared solid. Yesterday morning, we found 15 of our chickens dead inside the coop. Their necks were cut, but their carcasses were not eaten in any way. Three birds had made it through, although one was injured.
My husband disposed of the carcasses and the entire coop was cleaned out, bedding removed and we inspected the floor. No holes at all, no cracks in the wood where something could get in. We had ventilation holes at the top of the coop which were screened. We found one screen pushed in and thought maybe this was how the predator got in. We boarded those all up to keep things out. Last night when we checked on the chickens (about 6pm), two were on the roosts and the injured one was still in a nesting box. There were two eggs in the nesting box next to her.
This morning, we found the last three chickens dead. Same style - cut necks, head intact, carcasses not disturbed. The eggs were still in the nesting box. Here's my request for help:
1) What predator am I dealing with?
2) How do I protect any future flocks? (I'm sure there's more I can do, but what?)
3) Is anyone in the Central IL area with more experience that would be willing to inspect my coop and give suggestions to improvement?
I'm at a total loss and pretty devastated at this loss. It won't keep me down, but I need to learn more before I can move forward. Thanks for any help you can give!
Andy
Well, over the last two nights, we lost our entire flock of 18 birds. We've had these chickens since last year. In the spring, we built a wood coop raised off the ground. We've had no extreme predator problems. We lost one chicken to a hawk during the late summer and one chicken to a racoon in early fall. (We think it was a racoon because it's head and crop were missing with the neck pulled through the fencing. Also, happened during daylight hours.) We've had no problems at night and the coop has appeared solid. Yesterday morning, we found 15 of our chickens dead inside the coop. Their necks were cut, but their carcasses were not eaten in any way. Three birds had made it through, although one was injured.
My husband disposed of the carcasses and the entire coop was cleaned out, bedding removed and we inspected the floor. No holes at all, no cracks in the wood where something could get in. We had ventilation holes at the top of the coop which were screened. We found one screen pushed in and thought maybe this was how the predator got in. We boarded those all up to keep things out. Last night when we checked on the chickens (about 6pm), two were on the roosts and the injured one was still in a nesting box. There were two eggs in the nesting box next to her.
This morning, we found the last three chickens dead. Same style - cut necks, head intact, carcasses not disturbed. The eggs were still in the nesting box. Here's my request for help:
1) What predator am I dealing with?
2) How do I protect any future flocks? (I'm sure there's more I can do, but what?)
3) Is anyone in the Central IL area with more experience that would be willing to inspect my coop and give suggestions to improvement?
I'm at a total loss and pretty devastated at this loss. It won't keep me down, but I need to learn more before I can move forward. Thanks for any help you can give!
Andy
