Poultry Predator Identification

[htyrrell]

Ok I know this is an old thread but I know for a fact a fox has now taken over 20 hens and 4 roosters. I'm afraid he will get to my call ducks. I've sat outside for hours with my boy ready to kill it but won't come around until I'm not looking how do I kill him?

 

[dekel18042]

Ok I know this is an old thread but I know for a fact a fox has now taken over 20 hens and 4 roosters. I'm afraid he will get to my call ducks. I've sat outside for hours with my boy ready to kill it but won't come around until I'm not looking how do I kill him?

If you find out how, please let us know. Foxes are the worst predators IMHO. Any weakness in your system, they will exploit. They can avoid traps that easily catch raccoons and opossums. They seem able to avoid bullets,
You can be home and outside with dogs all day, put the dogs away and run a quick 15 minute errand and come home to find a hen taken.
(And my mother in law saw the fox. That's how we know what it was. But instead of sending the dogs out immediately, she went running through the house until she found a broom then went outside with it.)

 

[htyrrell]

If you find out how, please let us know.  Foxes are the worst predators IMHO.  Any weakness in your system, they will exploit.  They can avoid traps that easily catch raccoons and opossums. They seem able to avoid bullets,
You can be home and outside with dogs all day, put the dogs away and run  a quick 15 minute errand and come home to find a hen taken.
     (And my mother in law saw the fox.  That's how we know what it was.  But instead of sending the dogs out immediately, she went running through the house until she found a broom then went outside with it.)

My mum breeds labs so we have dogs. My adult ducks pen is up agaist the dogs pen. I'm not so worried. But my adolescent and babies ducks are in the barn with the chickens. The chickens free range all day, the fox hasn't really been around. But today it happens I put the baby ducks away after letting them free range with a watchful eye. I went inside. I hear a bit of commotion from the dogs but that's normal so I didn't assume. I go to lock up the now roosting chickens in the barn and my big beautiful Wyandotte rooster is gone. Might be a good thing he kept going after younger kids, but 3 of my barred rock also was taken along with a Cochin rooster and 20 of my laying hens and 5 of my chicks. It's getting frustrating considering I have ducklings and chicks due next Wednesday. and I don't want them hurt.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I don't know if it would work in your situation, but consider getting a pair of large guard geese. They will chase off foxes. For whatever reason foxes are deathly afraid of geese.
I've seen geese chase a fox before. The fox was terrified! It never came back.

 

[happyfrenchman]

I think it will be hard for you to ambush a fox. Their senses are very keen,. Plus they are very wary. If you can somehow trap it, that would be your best bet. A leg trap or snare. You will have to bait it. Put it somehow where the dogs should not get into it. You might advertise for someone with trapping knowhow because it is not that easy to do. This fox seems to think you are a reliable food source so that might work in your favor. He has had success at your expense for a time now and hopefully you can catch him.

Good luck. It sounds like maybe you could improve on your coops security. You may never catch the Fox, but if he stops getting a meal he might go elswhere.

 

[htyrrell]

I think it will be hard for you to ambush a fox. Their senses are very keen,. Plus they are very wary. If you can somehow trap it, that would be your best bet. A leg trap or snare. You will have to bait it. Put it somehow where the dogs should not get into it. You might advertise for someone with trapping knowhow because it is not that easy to do. This fox seems to think you are a reliable food source so that might work in your favor. He has had success at your expense for a time now and hopefully you can catch him.

Good luck. It sounds like maybe you could improve on your coops security. You may never catch the Fox, but if he stops getting a meal he might go elswhere.

We found that if we leave a radio outside on loud nothing comes around! I think the fox thinks it's people and doesn't come around

 

[Spatzerl]

One tree roosting chicken decapitated and eviscerated last night. Pretty quietly. Carcass left next to where the chickens roost. Other chicken missing all day, turns out it is alive, despite the huge amount of its feathers I had found, but he has either lost an eye or has it badly injured. Haven't been able to investigate for more injuries. Any idea what type of predator that could have been? I am surprised that our guineas didn't sound an alarm last night while the attack happened- they are only a few yards away in a tree. All I heard was one of the roosters crowing- figured it was a fluke. Needless to say, put all chickens in coop tonight.

 

[rannug]

Gail, Just read your posting re: predators. Very interesting. Much appreciated.

A couple situations you might be able to answer for me. I lost one of my banties to something during the day. It was killed one day, but not eaten until the next day. She was not eaten where she was killed.
I had three blue palm turkeys. One of the hens began staying outside the coop at night. I found her one morning, the breast was partially eaten. There was a trail of white feathers from across the creek into the front yard, about 60 yards. I kinda think is was a smaller predator because it had to pursue her so far. The other hen is on her nest of eight eggs inside the coop. I think that is a wasted effort because Tom knows not he's doing.
Lastly my one hen guinea. She is nesting beneath an arbor. She's been sitting on 15-16 eggs, almost full time. She was squawking so loudly about 6:15 this morning that it woke me, not exactly an easy task. She went to the coop about 50 yards from her nest. I opened the coop and lets all the birds out. Walked back to the nest and there are 3-4 eggs missing, and one egg outside the nest. I don't think the predator is a snake, due to the time of the day/night. I walked all around the yard and rode everywhere looking for egg shards. Nothing. What would take 3-4 eggs at one time and leave no trace? The 3 guineas are just eating around the yard now.

I do have 3 keets hatched and raised by one of the silkies. The 4 of them are in one enclosure and the other silkies are in another coop, in a large fenced in area. I've had no problems there, except occasionally when I left one of the feed containers out over night, something would get into them. I'm suspecting a possum doing that.

I will set up a trail cam for tonight. I am very open to comments, questions, from you and anyone else.

Thank you.

Rannug

 

[dekel18042]

Gail, Just read your posting re: predators. Very interesting. Much appreciated.

A couple situations you might be able to answer for me. I lost one of my banties to something during the day. It was killed one day, but not eaten until the next day. She was not eaten where she was killed.


Thank you.

Rannug

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.

 

[Rocky64]

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.