Lost two full grown chickens yesterday

[RBOutdoors]

One was a Minorca and the other EE. Both were some time after 6 pm but before 10 pm. I saw both yesterday around 6 while doing things in the yard. I only saw EE around the coop and saw where it went through the fence. It took the bird over the bottom strand of barbed wire?? This is 8-12" off the ground. Makes me think cat. I know the EE can't be a bird of prey/dog/coyote/fox because of the way my coop is setup. The ladder to the roost is pretty small and you would have to be a climber to get up it. I just dont think any of the listed could do it.

Anyways I Haven't found black feathers yet so I don't know the location of the mini yet.

I am just worries about my 35 5 week old chicks running around out there. I don't think I have much to worry about during the heat of the day. I am thinking I need to move them to a more visible area and mow around the pens. I had been keeping it longer to give cover from hawks. Dang double edges sword.

 

[Kevin565]

I don't know what could have got them but so sorry for your loss

 

[RBOutdoors]

After a little searching I found the site where they ate the EE. Nothing but feathers and wings. From the predator list looks like a cat of some kind. That's not good cause cats are really hard to catch in traps.

 

[moetrout]

House cats hard to catch? You must have some kind of special ones there then. Try a tin of cheap tuna and a live trap. Tuna is a pretty vesitile bait. I have trapped cats, coons, and opossums with it.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Are you talking domestic housecat or bobcat? I would doubt domestic cat. That would be a lot of trouble for a house cat to get a chicken up and over a strand of wire that is 8 to 12 inches off the ground.

Fox and raccon are excellent climbers and both very capable of fitting through small openings. Those would be at the top of my list of suspects. Whatever it was will most likely be back, I'd be keeping the coop closed up before dark.

 

[RBOutdoors]

I am not sure what it is. From the article above it says cats leave feathers and wings.

 

[mama24]

Sounds like a racoon to me. We had raccoons leave feathers and wings before. We knew it was a coon b/c we saw it. Right now we're dealing with a fox. But they leave no trace at all.

 

[RBOutdoors]

Well two chicks gone got back from errands and two were half gone. One missing a leg and the other looked like it had been halved. What is weird is they were in the pen with the rest of the young ones. I opened it up this morning before I left 10 am and got home 3:30 and found them.

Headed to feed store tomorrow to buy a trap.

 

[Nychickenfam]

Ouch!!! Do you have any fencing around your pen area? Sounds like you could benefit from some chicken wire around your current system you got going on. A friend of mine recently had to put chicken wire around hers because an animal got underneath her lattice she had around her coop. It would prolly be wise to put in the work and bury the chicken wire atleast a foot down into the ground and continue around your fencing.

 

[Java_chicken_man]

From what I have read sounds like you have coon to deal with. If you are getting a live trap make sure you have it secured in place so the coon can't tip it over and escape. Happens to many times :/