Poultry Predator Identification

[Rocky64]

Could they just be distorted coon or opossum tracks, now that I look at them more, that's what they kinda look like

 

[rannug]

Thanks for your response

If people put a general location on their avatar it might help in that certain predators are more likely in certain areas. Coyotes and foxes usually carry the entire body away unless they come back later to take and cache them. An opossum might eat only part of the birds and some raccoons, too, although they generally eat more, But I had to wonder on the bantam that was killed and then carried away if you're dealing with two different kinds of predators?
Will be interesting to see what the trail cam shows.

Thanks for the response. I'm in Carroll Co., east central Ohio. Neighbors have seen coyotes around but I haven't seen any. There was a beautiful red fox in my yard, but S, S, & S. Just checked and she put the egg back into the nest.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

hmmmmmm, you need a webcam. Wonder if you have more than one type of predator? Minks are in the weasel family. I know they will kill chickens, but do they eat them or just suck the blood?
I had a relative lose rabbits to weasels who got into the pens through minute holes and the rabbits were dead with little or no damage to the bodies.
I'm not sure if an owl needs to see his prey moving before he can get it or if he can attack a still target.

Take a comfy folding chair and spend a few hours in the dark listing to your poultry sleep. Chickens seldom sleep silently. An owl can catch mice in total darkness using only the owl's sense of hearing. Chickens are always squabbling and jockeying with each other for a better sleeping position. In this respect chickens are much like a flock of 8 year old boys. Stevie Wonder could find them.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Can someone identify these tracks, I found them on my pond shore and just wondered what they were. I did have a chicken go missing yesterday but I doubt that has anything to do with whatever animal made those tracks. I'm thinking maybe muskrat but I'm not sure. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[rannug]

Take a comfy folding chair and spend a few hours in the dark listing to your poultry sleep. Chickens seldom sleep silently. An owl can catch mice in total darkness using only the owl's sense of hearing. Chickens are always squabbling and jockeying with each other for a better sleeping position. In this respect chickens are much like a flock of 8 year old boys. Stevie Wonder could find them.

Yeah, I'm putting out a trail cam tonight. I don't think the predator(s) are mink or weasel. Thank you for your comment.

 

[johnandashley]

Thank you, so much info and experience. thanks for taking the time to share it

 

[Rocky64]

Thanks for the help, it is possible for it to be an otter, although they aren't normally found around here, sometimes a few come down south while swimming in rivers. I know this is a kinda funny question, but would an otter kill a chicken?

 

[happyfrenchman]

I think they would. After I read your post, I looked up otter tracks and they looked sort of like what you found... https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfws_alaska/13436624813


then I searched for otter killing chicken. I read alot of stories about them killing ducks and geese... so apparently they are easily capable. They are very tough and tenacious animals. And they are in places you would not imagine. So be careful. They will kill a dog I believe.

 

[dekel18042]

I think they would. After I read your post, I looked up otter tracks and they looked sort of like what you found... https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfws_alaska/13436624813


then I searched for otter killing chicken. I read alot of stories about them killing ducks and geese... so apparently they are easily capable. They are very tough and tenacious animals. And they are in places you would not imagine. So be careful. They will kill a dog I believe.

I'll admit to not knowing much about otters, but wouldn't you have to live near water to have them. I would have thought they would kill animals around water including fish and perhaps water birds before they would invade a chicken coop
Waiting for what the web cam shows.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Yeah no... I was replying to Rocky with the picture of the unidentified track and the missing chicken.... you, I thought had already seen a fox.