My chickens are killing each other. No. They really are.

[polychip]

I know I've posted about this before but now I'm absolutely sure the chickens are killing each other. I need some help. We spent the weekend filling in any tiny hole a rat could get through. I removed all the babies from the coop. I check on them before bed and everyone is roosting. Then I check on the when the sun is just coming up in the morning and all is well. Then I come home from work and BAM! dead adult chicken in the coop. What is going on? Do I have one aggressive hen that starts it then the others join in? My coop is huge for the number of chickens I have in there, the have food, fresh water and forage. They're otherwise perfectly healthy. Also, the hens are dead in relatively the same place every time. AND the one I just found dead was fresh. That tells me they're doing it during the day.

I have kind of an aggressive hen so I've put her by herself to see what happens. Otherwise I'm at a loss.

Any ideas? Please help!!!

 

[polychip]

Update!!! Moooohahahaha!!!!

He pulled all that cord in there with him. Small price to pay.

 

[azygous]

You really do have a "who-dunnit". The best thing would be to set up a game cam. I have never done it, but I hear they are very inexpensive and easy to use and download to your computer.

If you just have standard poultry mesh between a predator and your chickens, that isn't small enough mesh to prevent some small predators from either getting inside or reaching a slender paw through to grab a chicken to pull toward the side and kill it.

Running hardware cloth around the lower three feet would help immensely.

I see in your photo of the coop that there's space at the top of the wall under the roof that light is coming through. Is that space covered with screening? An owl can easily glide through a small opening such as your coop appears to afford and get inside, kill a bird and fly back out again. I've watched it on video. Amazing what small openings an owl can take advantage of.

 

[farnorth]

I'm guessing weasel too.

 

[polychip]

I. Hate. Raccoons. Glad you caught him, and so sorry you lost so many of your lovelies to the *******. 

He does seem like a young one, but hard to tell. They are persistent, problem-solving little jerks, and if he'd found his way there once before, years ago, he'd be able to find his way back, no problem.

Dead raccoons don't find their way back to my chicken coop. Quick and painless but it had to be done

 

[Skyehawk]

I wouldn't call a racoon evil but they are crafty and smart. They are excellent predators, able to survive where some other animals can't. He was just looking for food. Some people make food out of them or sell their skins. How evil is that? They can, however, be very, very vicious as you probably found out when you trapped him. I have seen them whip a large dog. They will actually drown a dog if they are attacked in deep water by the dog. When I was a kid, I watched one nearly drown my hunting dog. It was on top of my dog holding him under water. When he popped up to breath himself, I shot him just in time to save my dog who had already started drowning. I had to pull him out of the water and pump the water out of him. Will never forget that. Hope you don't ever get another one after your chickens.

 

[polychip]

Maybe what I really need to ask is what is the best high capacity video recorder I can buy? I don't see another solution but to watch them and fine out what's happening.

 

[Bird Fever]

Were there obvious injuries visible on the dead chickens? Just curious...

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

x2? If the chickens are the ones doing it, theres going to be some evidence like missing feathers, peck marks or holes and blood.

What's your set up like? Where are you finding them dead? Do they have access to a run, is it covered or uncovered? What do you feed? How old are the hens you're finding dead? Have you observed any aggressive behavior from them? What are the more common predators in your area? Some of them are tiny, and they can burrow in. We had a mink visiting us during the day when I lived at my old house, I'd find a hen dead every few days until I got rid of that little guy.
If they've got space, and they are killing each other, somethings lacking somewhere. You've just got to figure out what it is and fix it. If you can't think of anything they may be missing, then I'd assume you've got a predator finding its way into the coop.

 

[polychip]

Thanks so much for responding. I feed Flock Raiser with free choice oyster shell. I usually have some cubed hay in there for forage. The dead birds ages are pullets up to 5 years. Other than a peck on the head now and then, my birds aren't aggressive. Last weekend we sealed every single space a predator could get in. It's a huge coop, in a shed row. 40'X40' with about a dozen chickens in it. I thought it might be because there were pullets in there but I removed them and found one of my beautiful Cochin hens dead yesterday. We have foxes, skunks, possums, coyotes and maybe rats. Although I've never seen a rat. I've been here for 7 years and have never had this kind of problem.

They go outside when I let them out. With a coop that size, I don't need to let them out every day but I try unless the weather is bad.

I have my boss hen isolated. When I checked this morning, everyone was good. All the chickens look fine. They aren't bloody.

I should say I sealed everything up with spray foam and I didn't see any of it disturbed. The largest hole in the wire is a standard chicken wire size.