PLEASE HELP: What killed almost my whole flock? 17 dead.. :( (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

[SandyRiverChick]

Ugh Racoons are the worst! In 2009 when I joined BYC it was because I had a daytime coon! It skinned a cat! It needed to die, it was not well, possibly even rabid. Boy did I take a lot of angry responses when all I wanted to do was kill it. But whatever, you gotta do what you gotta do! This is going to sound silly now but I saw a coon on my game cam about a year ago, trying to climb my run. I broke into coon prevention, got a live trap, attached 3 foot wire to the top of my run (it falls over the outter top part and even coons are not smart enough to climb it.) And I installed a flood light out the back of my coop. I had to put curtains on my coop windows so the chickens have roosting darkness but I have not seen a coon again on my game cam for a year. It's not perfect prevention, but I do suggest the light, it really helps (with nightime coons.) So sorry for your loss but I'm glad you're picking up the pieces and outsmarting the little F ers!

 

[ColtHandorf]

Definitely sounds like raccoons.

I don't think that any wild animal "kills for sport." They will kill more than they can eat in one sitting, though if they find themselves with an opportunity to do so. It is no different than you going to the grocery store on a Sunday to get food for the coming week. If they break into a coop, why kill one bird when you can kill many and eat well and come back for the ones you dispatched?

or drown in a garbage can full of water

On that note, the last time I heard about someone doing that, they were arrested for animal cruelty. I'd find a faster, less painful method of dispatching them if you aren't going to trap them and release them elsewhere.

 

[ChickyMudder]

This morning I went out to let my ladies out of their coop and found almost my entire flock dead. I had 10 Speckled Sussex hens that were 12 weeks old, 5 White Leghorns that were about 6 weeks old, 2 Bantams that were 9 weeks old, 4 Buff Orpingtons at 9 weeks old. The only survivors are 3 white leghorns and 1 Sussex - they were hiding in a bush.

The coop they were staying in is pretty well secured with no openings anywhere on the roof, sides or underneath. There is 1/2 hardware cloth everywhere. Whatever got into it seemed to open the door on the side of the coop after climbing several feet and opening a Barrel Slider Lock. The lock is hard enough for us to open since the coop is weathered and the lock kinda jams.

We have seen raccoons and possums, but i haven't seen any coyotes or foxes lately. Whatever killed them was able to climb the roof, hang down and open the tight lock, get inside and kill a bunch of them. There were several of them just dead inside the coop with wounds to their necks and bodies left intact. And a lot of them were eaten up almost entirely with only the heard, head and some feathers remaining. There were "kill zones" spread out over about a 50 foot radius with a dead chicken mauled entirely. I am thinking it was a pack of animals and not just 1 - total of 17 dead. I cant find the bodies of at least 4-5 of them but found most of what's left of the others. They were torn apart pretty savagely. I cant imagine that a pack of raccoons did this, but what else can open a barrel slider lock that's pretty tight? This is our first loss ever and its a major one . I will be getting a camera today to put in the area and keep an eye out.

What did this?
Will it come back again most likely to finish off the rest?
How do i kill/trap the predator in this instance?

Im so sorry! I cant imagine how an animal opened such a secure coop. The door was open when you found them? All the chickens were outside the coop? Is it possible the door was accidentally left unlocked?
Im so sorry for your loss. We have live traps, a dog, and electric fence around the coop. We also keep the coop close to our house. So far, so good.
I know a farmer that puts our a plastic coyote to keep away predators from his commercial free range farm. Hope this helps.

 

[Bella the Chicken Lover]

I'm so sorry for your loss
Raccoons are the ones that take heads... again, I am so sorry

 

[Krazikatlady64]

Seems like a good idea, I will be changing the locks tonight and keep an eye out. Any suggestions on deterring the coons away?

I have heard coons are the worst. Lots of good advice here. I think the electric fence/wire would be good. Mine are in a complete hardware cloth run and coop. It is near my house. I hope that the dog and cat around will deter one from coming so close. Glad to year you could restock and are moving in a better direction.

 

[BastyPutt]

Definitely sounds like raccoons.

I don't think that any wild animal "kills for sport." They will kill more than they can eat in one sitting, though if they find themselves with an opportunity to do so. It is no different than you going to the grocery store on a Sunday to get food for the coming week. If they break into a coop, why kill one bird when you can kill many and eat well and come back for the ones you dispatched?


On that note, the last time I heard about someone doing that, they were arrested for animal cruelty. I'd find a faster, less painful method of dispatching them if you aren't going to trap them and release them elsewhere.

This is actually how the local fish and game do it when they come and get them out of schools and such, which is the only reason I know of it.

 

[DLA]

This is actually how the local fish and game do it when they come and get them out of schools and such, which is the only reason I know of it.

Definitely sounds like raccoons.

I don't think that any wild animal "kills for sport." They will kill more than they can eat in one sitting, though if they find themselves with an opportunity to do so. It is no different than you going to the grocery store on a Sunday to get food for the coming week. If they break into a coop, why kill one bird when you can kill many and eat well and come back for the ones you dispatched?


On that note, the last time I heard about someone doing that, they were arrested for animal cruelty. I'd find a faster, less painful method of dispatching them if you aren't going to trap them and release them elsewhere.

I wouldn't advocate animal cruelty just for the sake of being cruel but if it is only option you have to remove a threat to your flock then how you dispatch them becomes less important in my opinion. As long as you are removing the treat in the quickest and most feasible option for your situation then I wouldn't judge anyone for that. If there's a concern of laws and legality well, if you don't advertise the deed and how you got rid of it to anyone then who's to know. Catching them and releasing them somewhere else just makes them someone else problem. Once they learn they can get good eats around humans they won't stop and if you don't stop them they become less and less afraid of humans.

 

[FunClucks]

So sorry for your chickens.

Tri-act lock carabiners. Two per door, one top and one bottom. I also have a fence gate sliding bolt for when I'm in and out of the coop and will be right back, so it's sorta secure but I don't have to do the carabiners all the time while doing coop/run maintenance. I don't have a traditional box coop, but rather an open air covered run, completely covered with 1/2" hardware cloth and a 3 ft apron. We get almost no snow where I live, so snow load isn't an issue.

But a straight up padlock works too. The carabiner was easier to defrost in the wintertime with a heat gun after the ice got into it. Once it was dry, no problems in the frozen weather. I secure and open them one handed, and hook them on the door handle when not in use so I can see they're not in use.

I like the bright colors cause I can tell from a distance if I remembered to lock up the coop.

Regular carabiners work too, I'm told. I maybe overdo it a bit. But no predators since the coop was built have gotten my chickens, and we have them all. Racoons have been trying for over a year, and haven't gotten in.

https://www.rei.com/product/169717/petzl-smd-triact-lock-carabiner

The picture with tarp but no plastic up on sides shows an unlocked door with sliding bolt engaged (gold carabiners are on handle, green carabiner is just present and not doing anything). The picture with plastic up on sides shows locked door with sliding bolt engaged (gold carabiners used to lock the latches, silver carabiner on the handle is not triact lock and not in use, we just hung it on the handle to get it off the ground).

 

[ColtHandorf]

This is actually how the local fish and game do it when they come and get them out of schools and such, which is the only reason I know of it.

I wouldn't advocate animal cruelty just for the sake of being cruel but if it is only option you have to remove a threat to your flock then how you dispatch them becomes less important in my opinion. As long as you are removing the treat in the quickest and most feasible option for your situation then I wouldn't judge anyone for that. If there's a concern of laws and legality well, if you don't advertise the deed and how you got rid of it to anyone then who's to know. Catching them and releasing them somewhere else just makes them someone else problem. Once they learn they can get good eats around humans they won't stop and if you don't stop them they become less and less afraid of humans.

I'd be very certain to check with local laws. And just because someone doesn't see you doing something wrong doesn't mean it isn't wrong.

https://winknews.com/2017/11/20/florida-man-accused-drowning-raccoon/

 

[BastyPutt]

I'd be very certain to check with local laws. And just because someone doesn't see you doing something wrong doesn't mean it isn't wrong.

https://winknews.com/2017/11/20/florida-man-accused-drowning-raccoon/
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Never a more true statement. Even then, these laws are typically loaded with gray areas that can easily be misconceived.

Let's not forget that Racoons are vicious creatures, loaded with diseases. If you are unfamiliar with trapping, it can be incredibly unsafe.

The best thing to do, to 100% make sure you are in compliance is to call your local fish and game, or an exterminator. The latter will most likely know all the rules and/or would remove them obviously for a charge.