One a day now all my ladys are gone.

[damien]

First was tester then glitch, now birdy-bird.

Decapitated and body left in coup.

I dunno what would do it.

I'm leaning towards a mink since we live at a fish hatchery,

Anyhow they were all pets.

My son will be very upset as everyday he lost one.

Heck the Rhode Island red would even come when called and jump into his arms.

Not gonna find another one like that.

One loney rooster crowing his poor head off is all we have left.

They would have been 1 in april

 

[calicokat]

Oh, I"m so sorry for your loss. I've heard that minks are very hard to predator proof against, but hopefully you can get your coop/run more secure and try again

 

[Martin Grove Farm]

Good guess, sounds like mink or weasel to me. We had that happen once at our last place with our show pigeons and once here. Walk into the barn and have 40 hens piled into a corner...dead. In our case it was a weasel but he is pushing daisies now!

 

[damien]

dunno what im goign to do about revenge yet.

suspect rooster will be tomaorw.

 

[Inkheart]

that is horrible - friend lost 8 to a mink till he trapped it ... Very sorry

 

[KellyHM]

If you think the rooster will be next why don't you put him somewhere safer?

 

[Martin Grove Farm]

revenge is for another day. first of all you have to find out how they are getting in. They need an opening about the size of a quarter. Rats can get in smaller openings. Walk around and find the entrance and make sure it is sealed tight. They can dig under fencing too. When we put our fencing up, we used 1/2 " by 1/2" welded wire(hardware cloth) all along the bottom. We buried 12 inches into the ground at an angle towards the outside of the pen. This way when something tries to dig near the fence, they hit the wire and can't dig. They are not smart enough to know that if they backed up 12" they could dig and get into the pen.

Revenge. try a snare trap or a live trap and then a 22

 

[damien]

rooster will be going in cat carrier till I figure out whats up.

No more hens.

Im wondering why only one a day?

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Can you put some hardware cloth over your existing chickenwire and bury it 2' down into the ground? Chickenwire won't keep out predators.

I would advise against getting more chickens until you make your chicken area safe from predators. And remember, you can kill one predator, but then another will come along to take his place. There will always be predators in the world and you can't kill them all.

 

[Paaz1120]

I am soo sorry for your loss! Your son is Very cute!! and it shows that he loved his Chickens!

I agree. you should probably get the rooster somewhere safer or put hardware wire.
(could you trap the mink?)

Good Luck! and our prayers are with you!