My beloved Orps are gone...potential suspects!

[looptloop]

I'm so, so sorry. I know it's hard, but try not to beat yourself up over it.

I too, think it sounds like a dog (or dogs) attack. In the county I live in, it is common knowledge that your dog will be shot if caught attacking livestock of any kind.

I'm so sorry.

 

[WillieBoy]

So sorry for your loss... i've lost two NH reds to a cat, but in four yrs and with about 50 hens, i've been lucky.I'm waiting to see if you catch the killer in a live trap or if you can get it on a webcam. I'm thinking its a raccoon..i sure hope you get it soon...!

 

[muddyhorse]

so so sorry to hear about the orps

let me know if I can help

 

[MysticScorpio82]

I am so sorry for your losses! Hope you catch the bugger!

Honestly, I wouldn't put it past a coon to kill for fun. I have read several posts in the past where that is exactly what happened. Of course that doesn't rule out other predators.

Again, I am sorry for your losses!

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
I'm only going to move the 3 birds back into their "home" pen during the day. At night, I'll move them into the main coop where they're safe. I sat out there for 2 hours tonight, but it's just too cold. I sat up in my son's "treehouse" and with the snow, I could see forever. If I could stand the cold, and the predator came back, I could definitely see it coming. But the pen is only about 50-75 feet from my bathroom windows, so I can also stand inside and keep an eye out. It might not be so easy to get outside and take care of the predator, but at least I'd know what I'm dealing with. I went ahead and set a live trap inside the pen tonight...so we'll see. I'm sure I won't sleep a wink tonight...I SO want to know what did this.

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
Sadly that is not the case. Coons will kill everything they can catch and get too. They kill and leave what they cannot eat.

shelleyd I am so so sorry for your losses. It is most likely a coon. If so, please make sure they are protected now because it will return and continue as long as there are birds they can get too. The other predator that removes the head and eats the throat area is a mink, weasels are tough critters because they can easily get into a small area but they rarely leave anything alive and they are great climbers so getting to the ones on the roost would have been very easy.


scbatz33 had a heck of a time last year with racoons. They kept coming back no matter how many were trapped and/or shot. I spent many nights outside her barn with my rifle and it was like one found them and then told every coon in a 3 mile area. She lost over 20 birds if I recall correctly.

 

[sweeterdeeter42]

That sounds like what happened to our birds one year. Something ate the heads off of some, parts of others, and just killed some and didnt eat them. It wasnt a dog that got ours, we know that. we were thinking weasel or raccoon. It is super traumatizing though. I am paranoid that something is going to get my birds all of the time now and that happened about 10 years ago.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Well...whatever it was, it didn't come back last night. I was up every hour looking out the windows at my pens. The moon and the snow combined to make it look like daylight outside, so I could see everything. There was nothing in the live trap this morning, and no tracks anywhere. I really would have thought that a raccoon would have returned last night to kill some more. I'm really having a gut feeling that it's a dog...but I'll be on predator patrol every night until I either see, trap, or shoot (possibly all 3 LOL) whatever it is. I'm so tired that I'm in a daze today. My eyes hurt, but my heart is better. My love for the birds is pushing me to make accountable whatever varmit did this.

 

[h8snags]

I am so very sorry for your loss.. Thank you for posting this, we are in the process of building a run right now, and this story has made me understand just how important the construction of it, and the coop, is for the safety of my girls! Feel better soon!

 

[newtochick]

Quote:
We have raccoons around here, and though it may or may not have been a raccoon attack, I will say this...first they do not come back every night necessarily. Second, they will kill for no reason, and kill as many as they can get a hold of. A lot of the time, they will just bite a head off and leave the rest to move on to another chicken. I have had people around me that this has happened to, raccoons are vicious, usually to stop them you will have to kill them. The only reason the raccoons who live in my area...probably 20 of them..have not gotten my girls is because I knew they were living in the trees on my property, and I built a fortress for my girls, but I have caught the raccoons standing on rocks looking into the pens where my girls are, pacing back and forth trying to figure out how to get to them. (I would have shot them too except the gun was not loaded and by the time my hubby had it loaded they were running away because they heard me...I was ticked they would even look at my girls, lmao) Yours may very well have been a dog, but just because they did not come back last night, don't rule out a coon! Also, I know you said you would not shoot the dog, instead calling the dog control, but let me put this out there. I live just outside the city, the people where I live are not farmers or anything, they are all city people, with a little bit bigger property, that being said...every single one of my neighbors are very aware that if their dog somehow gets over (or under) my fence and goes after my girls, they will very likely be shot. I have told them my girls are just as important to me as their dogs are to them. If they dont like it, dont let their dogs loose. Likewise, if my hen gets over the fence, I will not hold them responsible should their dog kill my hen. You have the right to defend your chickens on your property...and yes, I love dogs, but I love my animals more then others! Anyways, sorry about the long rantings! I really hope either way you can figure out what happened and never have to go through this again! I felt just awful for you when I read the post!
Best of luck!
Beckie