Predator attack

[gabirder]

We lost all of our flock with the exception of two last night.

My youngest son discovered the aftermath. The gate had been opened, the nest boxes turned over and feathers were everywhere. The only two survivors were both Speckled Hamburg hens. The only remains I could find except for feathers was one wing from my Comet. No other body parts were found. We had a hen whose clutch was expected to hatch in a few days. UGHHH. So frustrating. We have had some problems with dogs turning over trash, killing pets and being a general pain. My question, does this sound like dogs? Either way the guns are loaded.

 

[chickenkeeper12]

I don't think it was a dog or dogs. My dog killed a couple of my neighbors a couple years ago and he killed them and left them there. It's probabably a coon or coyote. He also lost a couple to coon and coyotes and all they left was feathers.

 

[drumstick diva]

Dogs don't usually eat them - they just kill for the fun of it. Unless you have some abandoned strays that are starving. Did you find any tracks, or fur on wire or fence,that would be a clue to what predator it was.

 

[jendodd79]

The raccoons just left the legs and feathers of ours

 

[spies04]

I am so sorry for your loss! We had a fox kill a few of ours when they were free ranging and I was devastated. All of our chickens have names and I felt like we lost a family member.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It sounds like dogs to me. I don't have the advantage of knowing how your runs and walks are set up or constructed, but the nest boxes being turned over and feathers everywhere and some chicken fragments laying around sounds like a dog or a pack of dogs going ape in a frenzied effort to play frisbee with your chickens.