Mystery predator?

[NapaChicknGal]

my chicken guru who got me the birds said same thing; figure it's one or more of the hens since former owner wd/leave them alone for 4 to 5 days and another lady who took15 of them is dealing w/same problem; however, my friend took 3 and nada!! So how do I stop it? Tried milk, mustard-filled egg (only one tho') and golf ball and ceramic egg. Seems such a shame -- thnx for input -- there's a lot to learn

 

[rails]

My best guess on the predator issue would be skunk...they are well known in this area to do just that...tearing the heads off of the chicken and leave the body laying...and yes they are a member of the weasel family my coop is 8 inch thick concrete with an 1 1/2 thick wooden door that scrapes the ground...we have a lot of skunks in this area and (knock on wood) we haven't lost any of our chickens to them yet...set a live trap, stay up late with a gun or put a good dog somewhere nearby and you'll have no more problems with skunks

 

[Lady of McCamley]

my chicken guru who got me the birds said same thing; figure it's one or more of the hens since former owner wd/leave them alone for 4 to 5 days and another lady who took15 of them is dealing w/same problem; however, my friend took 3 and nada!! So how do I stop it? Tried milk, mustard-filled egg (only one tho') and golf ball and ceramic egg. Seems such a shame -- thnx for input -- there's a lot to learn

Then it is hens eating eggs. Since they were left alone without good care, they probably weren't getting the necessary food or calcium.

How to make egg eating stop?

1. Promptly remove eggs when they are laid. That means checking your nest boxes frequently through the day.

2. Make sure good quality layer feed is available at all times. I suggest supplementing with something like Rooster Booster Triple Action Multi Wormer. It has nutrional boost, probiotics, as well as a wormer. That could really help boost their immune systems and nutritional base which may be the underlying cause of the egg eating.

3. Put out calcite grit or oyster shell for additional calcium needs.

4. If you have additional lighting at night on, adjust so that the birds are getting only 14 hours of light per day. Too much lighting can cause feather picking and egg eating.

5. Watch to see if there is one particular bird who is the worst culprit and continues after the above measures. If so, remove that bird, permanently if you have to.

My suggestions.
LofMc

Link for Rooster Booster Wormer
http://www.abetterchicken.com/product/50101

 

[NapaChicknGal]

thnx - I've done what you suggest except for separating her --don't have another place to safely place her. But I'll just take it one day at a time and see abt getting rooster booster. I do give them yogurt and started cottage cheese--they all love the yogurt -- and greens and fruit--so their diet has much improved since they moved here--been 2days -- stilldon't understand cple wks ok then the broken eggs
thnx so much for info
pat

 

[bigbruce]

Sounds like a skunk

 

[ArekE]

My best guess on the predator issue would be skunk...they are well known in this area to do just that...tearing the heads off of the chicken and leave the body laying...and yes they are a member of the weasel family my coop is 8 inch thick concrete with an 1 1/2 thick wooden door that scrapes the ground...we have a lot of skunks in this area and (knock on wood) we haven't lost any of our chickens to them yet...set a live trap, stay up late with a gun or put a good dog somewhere nearby and you'll have no more problems with skunks

My coop is now set up like that and it seems to work.

 

[ArekE]

I forgot to mention, about a week ago he paid another visit and succesfully got one of my two broodies who without my knowledge were setting in the mini wooden compost bin.Then, this morning i went to the broody who survived who was still in the same spot and the thing made a pretty good attemp to get into the cat kennel that i put in the same little area (i moved that broody to a safer spot in the predator proof shed but it really made her mad even at night so i came up with a safe idea so she could stay in her favorite spot) when i showed up at her spot, the straw from underneath the kennel was all dug out and sure enough sitting in the kennel was a perfectly fine growling, angry broody. Then, when i walked over to the main coop there were a few eaten eggs from one of the hens little secret laying spots. There was also some spots where he tried to dig but he didnt get to far with the cement around the entire perimeter of the coop.I have also decided that this is more like the acts of a raccoon. Now the score is me, 1 point, and raccoon 2 points. Game on.

 

[azygous]

Isn't it amazing how crafty wildlife can be? It's a war at my place every summer, and wildlife of all varieties are a formidable foe.

I've had good luck with cement thresholds at doors and gates, and wire mesh buried into the ground several inches slanting outward under all walls and fences.

And then hot wire around everything!

 

[Icravepoultry]

    Yesterday morning i opened the coop to a horrific sight. Half of my 2 mo babies were dead, heads bit off. After cleaning up we figured out where the thing got in which was a tiny space under the door with a little sign of digging. My first thought was owl but then i after checking there was no way for one to get in. I live in Northern Colorado and i haven't heard of anything doing that. Any idea what it could be? And how could i prevent it from happening again?

Probably a stoat

 

[ArekE]

Today is the last day in wich those critters shall live. In the past two months i have lost 15 chickens and im getting tired of it. I have the bait set up with wind chimes and the rifle sitting by the door. Im sure no raccoon or skunk could resist cat food, egg, and freshly caught trout.