- Jul 19, 2009
- 29
- 19
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We are in a rural part of Northern California. The last few nights I have been losing a couple of 6 week olds a night that have been in, what I previously found was, a very secure, galvanized aviary mesh (1/4" heavy wire). I reinforced the bottom of the cage and door and literally tied the door securely to the sides with wire, every couple inches all the way around, last night. Last night I didn't lose any "entire" chicks, but one chick had nearly all her toes eaten off.
My game camera is on loan to my sister, who is also dealing with an unknown predator.
The first night I found a shredded partial carcass, no head, some body, the heart. The other missing chick was completely missing, though there were feathers of the second.
The second night I found again a partial shredded carcass, some entrails of one chick, the heart. Just a single foot of the second chick.
Last night, no "entire" chick was missing, but one is missing half of her toes from each foot. I wonder if it got pressed against the side of the cage and its toes were sticking out of the wire. I just don't see how something could have gotten inside last night.
No adult chickens nor adult ducks have been lost.
By the way, I have seen all of the following in the past at our farm: mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, fox, wood rats, ground & tree squirrels, raccoons, opossum, bears, feral cats, rattlesnakes, other large snakes, wild pigs, vultures, eagles, falcons, vultures & hawks. There may be weasels but I've never seen any.
The aviary is fenced off with 2" x 4" x 6' tall welded wire horse fence. The base all around has 5' tall hardware cloth, 2' of which is buried underground and 3' of which shields the lower section of the fence all around. The top and sides has aviary netting, though it has been chewed through in several areas, so is really only currently effective at keeping out the raptors.
I'll move the chicks in the garage tonight. Really wondering what this might be:
Calling all you predator pros, what do you think I'm dealing with ?
My game camera is on loan to my sister, who is also dealing with an unknown predator.
The first night I found a shredded partial carcass, no head, some body, the heart. The other missing chick was completely missing, though there were feathers of the second.
The second night I found again a partial shredded carcass, some entrails of one chick, the heart. Just a single foot of the second chick.
Last night, no "entire" chick was missing, but one is missing half of her toes from each foot. I wonder if it got pressed against the side of the cage and its toes were sticking out of the wire. I just don't see how something could have gotten inside last night.
No adult chickens nor adult ducks have been lost.
By the way, I have seen all of the following in the past at our farm: mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, fox, wood rats, ground & tree squirrels, raccoons, opossum, bears, feral cats, rattlesnakes, other large snakes, wild pigs, vultures, eagles, falcons, vultures & hawks. There may be weasels but I've never seen any.
The aviary is fenced off with 2" x 4" x 6' tall welded wire horse fence. The base all around has 5' tall hardware cloth, 2' of which is buried underground and 3' of which shields the lower section of the fence all around. The top and sides has aviary netting, though it has been chewed through in several areas, so is really only currently effective at keeping out the raptors.
I'll move the chicks in the garage tonight. Really wondering what this might be:
Calling all you predator pros, what do you think I'm dealing with ?
