Missing chickens and raccoon tracks

[old biddy]

We have been losing our chickens recently to what I thought was a fox (we have seen foxes around here on our farm here in North Florida.)
It started during late afternoon while they were still free ranging and before locking them in at night. So I started keeping them all penned up during the day til I can figure out what to do about this.

This morning I found raccoon tracks around the pen and a place where something tried to dig under the wire fence. They are definitely raccoon tracks.
However, I have read that raccoons usually only take the head of the chicken and leave the rest...which doesn't fit into the scenario (our chickens are totally
gone except for several piles and scatterings of feathers leading off into the woods. )

Would raccoons attack and kill several free ranging chickens during late afternoon, taking them away except for scatterings of chicken feathers? Or are we
dealing with more than one predator working in tandem? Any advice?

I

 

[hayley3]

A fox is definitely taking your hens.
As a few people have found out when they forgot to close their coop at night, there is always a predator trying to get into your coop, even if you don't see them, just waiting for that perfect opportunity to grab a chicken.

 

[Howard E]

I put out a bait station a month or so back. Monitored by a game camera. Just to see who might be lurking about. The results?

A lot of deer, PLUS possums, skunks (several), coons and a red fox. All at the same bait station and all over a short period of time.....sometimes at intervals of minutes....not hours. Funniest was the interaction between a coon and a skunk the coon bullied off the bait. Skunk protested loudly, but to no avail.

Point being you likely have all the above. The solution is tight housing at night that nothing gets into.......because they are all going to try. True free range birds out and about during the day, in a high predator load area, are highly vulnerable to loss. The predators do this for a living and will win that game most of the time.

 

[flatnhan]

Sorry for your loss! I would be extra vigilant in keeping them locked up unless you can watch them. We have had foxes grab chickens and they always come back for more and sometimes will even come around more during the day. We had to keep ours locked up for about a month to deter them from coming around all the time.

 

[old biddy]

So I put out a trap last night to see if I could catch that fox though I am sure it is too smart to fall for that...but I thought I would try. This morning there was a really large fat possum in the trap. My daughter said it was big and fat because it had been eating all my chickens, but I am convinced it was a pregnant female. I loaded her up and relocated her to a spot next to a river where I know she will have fresh water at least.

Tonight I will set the trap again, see what happens, and go from there. Meanwhile my chickens continue to be penned up during the day and locked in the henhouse at night.

Apparently all the wolf pee I put out did nothing to keep away the predators, at least not the possums or the raccoons. I assume the fox will also be back.

 

[Folly's place]

Opossums kill chickens too, especially at night! I'd have apologized to her and shot her anyway. She may make it back, and is now trap wise. Here in Michigan, such critters can only be relocated on the same property, or on private property within the same county with landowner permission.
You should check with your DNR to see what's legal in Florida!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Electric fencing will deter most land predators, if you can use it where you live. Otherwise, having the flock in their safe coop and run for the next weeks, at least, might (?) deter your current visitors.
Mary

 

[hayley3]

So I put out a trap last night to see if I could catch that fox though I am sure it is too smart to fall for that...but I thought I would try. This morning there was a really large fat possum in the trap. My daughter said it was big and fat because it had been eating all my chickens, but I am convinced it was a pregnant female. I loaded her up and relocated her to a spot next to a river where I know she will have fresh water at least.

Tonight I will set the trap again, see what happens, and go from there. Meanwhile my chickens continue to be penned up during the day and locked in the henhouse at night.

Apparently all the wolf pee I put out did nothing to keep away the predators, at least not the possums or the raccoons. I assume the fox will also be back.

Yeah possums are not the brightest and are what people normally catch first. Raccoons laugh at them as they go past. Foxes are the hardest to catch. Possums are too slow to catch a chicken unless they break into the hen house and the chickens are cornered and blind in the dark.