Maine flock gone

twillis33

In the Brooder
Apr 28, 2015
26
0
29
Maine
6 out of 10 gone. Unless you love chickens, others just don't understand. I am so sad. Piles of feathers but 6 birds not found. Our EE and our suspected Marans. Such beautiful birds gone. The live trap's empty but bait is also gone. Fischer cat? Raccoon? Such sadness.
 
I'm so sorry!!
hugs.gif
It is always horrible to lose any bird, but losing 6 is heartbreaking!
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I once lost 9 of 10 in one night...the survivor stayed out all night and wandered back to the main house early in the morning (she is now kind like my pet). The others were just gone. The worst part was we had brought all 10 on a 12 hour car trip to a new house, and that night they all got eaten. I suspect a coon opened the coop door (them and their opposing thumbs) and then created a all you can eat buffet for the rest of the nighttime predators.
 
Was this during the day or at night? Where were the birds? I've had mass losses to coyotes and foxes and neither of those left anything other than feathers. The raccoons and fishers were more likely to leave partial remains.
 
It was early morning. They were let out of the coop where they stay at night. They free roam during the day. My husband heard this commotion but didn't see anything. The neighbor called and there were feathers in his yard. My husband never found 6 of the chickens. We suspected something since 2 chickens had disappeared recently so we bought a trap. We will now have to build fencing to keep them safe. The smaller chicks need to go outside for good. We've been giving them outside time then bringing them back in. Do you think one predator could have taken down 6 chickens at a time? The neighbor has seen a raccoon in the area before.
 
I'm so sorry!! :hugs  It is always horrible to lose any bird, but losing 6 is heartbreaking! :hit  

I once lost 9 of 10 in one night...the survivor stayed out all night and wandered back to the main house early in the morning (she is now kind like my pet). The others were just gone. The worst part was we had brought all 10 on a 12 hour car trip to a new house, and that night they all got eaten. I suspect a coon opened the coop door (them and their opposing thumbs) and then created a all you can eat buffet for the rest of the nighttime predators. 


I am so sorry for your loss. How dissappointing to lose them especially after relocating. I feel incredibly sad but most don't understand. "They're just chickens" To me they are precious.
 
It was early morning. They were let out of the coop where they stay at night. They free roam during the day. My husband heard this commotion but didn't see anything. The neighbor called and there were feathers in his yard. My husband never found 6 of the chickens. We suspected something since 2 chickens had disappeared recently so we bought a trap. We will now have to build fencing to keep them safe. The smaller chicks need to go outside for good. We've been giving them outside time then bringing them back in. Do you think one predator could have taken down 6 chickens at a time? The neighbor has seen a raccoon in the area before.
 
We lost 2 of our 3 birds as well this last spring. I was gone on a business trip and my husband had laid down to sleep (he works graveyards) he woke up and 2 of oru 3 birds were missing- all my beautiful cochins leaving me just the sex link.

We never figured out what grabbed them from our fenced yard. Just sad day :(
 
I am so sorry for your loss. How dissappointing to lose them especially after relocating. I feel incredibly sad but most don't understand. "They're just chickens" To me they are precious.
thanks :) yes, i hate losing any birds...it is so sad every time one dies. It is true, a lot don't understand. Thankfully, this site has lots of chicken lovers :)
 
Do you think one predator could have taken down 6 chickens at a time?
Yes. One time a fox killed 5 in a row across the yard. Another incident involved coyotes (not sure how many as I wasn't home) that completely wiped out a flock of 15. Only feathers were left. Both times were about this time of year and happened mid morning. I presume they had young to feed so they killed as many as they could.
 
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