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?
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?
I would say raccoons. I use a locked pad lock on my coop. It's a pain, but worth the little bit of trouble.
