Mystery Attacker, quickly ending flocks!

[centrarchid]

Move remaining birds out of location they are being attacked in now. Tomorrow morning setup traps baited with catfood or carcass remains. Round up materials to block current access points and install. I would also consider using hotwire to block perimeter.

 

[PAPABOB23]

I agree that camera will not solve the problem. Raccoons kill for sport not to eat chickens. They will eat eggs. Stop the raccoons and don't watch them do it again.

 

[TinyBirds]

Raccoons, they will come back nightly until all are gone. With no time to rebuild fast enough (hardware cloth 1/2 inch 16 or 19 gauge needs to cover to too ziptie every 3 inches at seams with 8 inch long strong zipties, and add apron with rocks on top outside the bottom of fence). For now though, keep the chickens inside the garage in a dog crate at night, until time for rebuilding coop and run.

 

[Stephine]

One more voice to say filming the predators is useless if you want to save the chickens. They need to be moved to a safe holding spot and you need to make the coop and run secure as described above. Anything else is useless and will result in more dead chickens. If you kill the animal that did this in short order a different one will move into the territory and kill the chickens. It is better to have a frustrated predator inhabiting the territory (who has tried to get the chickens a few times and failed because their coop and run are secure) who has learned he needs to look for food elsewhere than an endless parade of newcomers who are each going to try different tricks to get the chickens...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Opossum

That is my opinion. Possums will usually begin eating somewhere at the end of the keel bone or close to the thigh and hollow out the body cavity. In my opinion I believe that this is because a possum's teeth and jaw muscles are not up to gnawing through bone and muscle like say a fox or coyote can. Of course this is supposing that we are dealing with full grown, standard sized chickens.

But if you live in the Sonora Desert I strongly suspect that you are dealing with a bobcat. Possums do not have the dentures needed to chew through chicken wire. Bobcats can maybe leap 12 vertical feet and bobcats are fully capable of climbing a 300 meter tall chicken coop. Possums can climb as well but maybe not as fast.

 

[Stephine]

That is my opinion. Possums will usually begin eating somewhere at the end of the keel bone or close to the thigh and hollow out the body cavity. In my opinion I believe that this is because a possum's teeth and jaw muscles are not up to gnawing through bone and muscle like say a fox or coyote can. Of course this is supposing that we are dealing with full grown, standard sized chickens.

But if you live in the Sonora Desert I strongly suspect that you are dealing with a bobcat. Possums do not have the dentures needed to chew through chicken wire. Bobcats can maybe leap 12 vertical feet and bobcats are fully capable of climbing a 300 meter tall chicken coop. Possums can climb as well but maybe not as fast.

Who has a 300 meter high chicken coop???

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Raccoons, they will come back nightly until all are gone. With no time to rebuild fast enough (hardware cloth 1/2 inch 16 or 19 gauge needs to cover to too ziptie every 3 inches at seams with 8 inch long strong zipties, and add apron with rocks on top outside the bottom of fence). For now though, keep the chickens inside the garage in a dog crate at night, until time for rebuilding coop and run.

I agree that a run needs to be secure but question deeply the need for hardware cloth on run. It's a huge added cost that does little more than welded wire of larger size holes but stronger gauge steel. I've seen evidence of large dogs tearing right through 19 gauge hardware cloth to get in and play with the birds. 8 inch or 2 inch zip ties don't do much. Nothing can get through 14 gauge welded wire attached via screws with washers excepting weasel. Well, and a bear of course but that's exceedingly rare unless feed is left out overnight. Just my two cents to keep hardware cloth to coop openings and stronger albeit larger opening welded wire or chain link to runs.

 

[microchick]

If you just want to find out what is doing the carnage, I'd go with a 49$ game camera.

I gotta agree with what has been suggested. First, you need to protect your chickens. Get em out o Dodge and somewhere safe.

Securing your coop and run. Think Fort Knox. My run is chain link kennel panels. Heavy duty. I have a hot wire running around the parameter at varying height from 3 inches above ground to 6 inches. My coop is metal clad with a concrete floor.The pop door and entrance door are metal also.

At the moment we have a bad fox problem. A really beautiful grey fox has been using the local poultry as it's personal buffet. I've seen him, my husband has seen him. Our neighbor has lost his entire free range flock to him and we are finding feathered remains on our property that are colors that we aren't familiar with. We have found varying sizes of fox prints around our coop and run but all of our chickens are present and accounted for.

I also think you are dealing with a predator other than a raccoon or possum. Personally, I would seclude my chickens if I were you, then set up a camera and reinforce/rebuild your run and coop. Good fences keep chickens safe and hot wires keep them safer.

 

[Stephine]

I agree that a run needs to be secure but question deeply the need for hardware cloth on run. It's a huge added cost that does little more than welded wire of larger size holes but stronger gauge steel. I've seen evidence of large dogs tearing right through 19 gauge hardware cloth to get in and play with the birds. 8 inch or 2 inch zip ties don't do much. Nothing can get through 14 gauge welded wire attached via screws with washers excepting weasel. Well, and a bear of course but that's exceedingly rare unless feed is left out overnight. Just my two cents to keep hardware cloth to coop openings and stronger albeit larger opening welded wire or chain link to runs.

Is hardware cloth more expensive than welded wire? I don't remember that. It might also be a bit easier to work with. I have never heard of dogs ripping through hardware cloth (unless it is not properly fastened by sandwiching it), but I guess it is conceivable - there might be thinner gauges? But I wouldn't just count out weasels as a threat to protect against. Weasels are wide spread and do awful damage to chickens. If I were concerned about hardware cloth not being strong enough I would add hotwire on the bottom and middle, that should do the trick.

 

[centrarchid]

My dogs can rip through hardware cloth.