Predator help, what killed my chicks?

[barnyardblast]

About a week ago, I moved 45 broad breasted chicks to their outside pen. They were about a month old. Our set up next door is an older farmhouse (which we use to wash eggs, canning, and so on). Behind the farmhouse is a fenced in backyard with ducks on one side and baby goats on the other. Next to the baby goats is a building that we use for feed and housing sick animals. There are adult goats in the pen next to it and a dozen 'ready to butcher' birds. Next to the ducks is a pen with pigs. Attached to the pig pen (but not accessible) was another pig pen which is where we put the chicks. It's very close to the farmhouse.

Elsewhere on the property is a large chicken house (fully enclosed), two other large goat pens, and a fully enclosed rabbit hutch.

We had company next door until late and the animals were all fine. This morning, when I went next door to feed the animals, I saw that the chicks were sprawled all over their pen. The weather had dipped a good bit (below 40) but they had shelter so I was confused at first to see bodies everywhere. There is very little blood on the bodies, but some were missing heads or wings. There were no chicks outside of the pen (they had been able to wiggle through some of the taller squares of the pen and we would occasionally find them outside the pen running around). I did find about 8 in the duck pen. I'm fairly certain that I'm missing completely about 6 - 8 chicks. Whatever it was, chased them down all over the pen (fairly large area). It also bypassed several other pens to get to this one.

Any idea what it was and, more importantly, will it return? No chicks were alive in that pen, but there are some hanging out with the ducks and I have a baby goat in that area as well. None of the other pens were disturbed.

 

[Chickiemom25]

I'd bet yes it will return. as to what it is????? set up a game cam. The possibilities are almost endless... a cat may go after easy prey where it wont go after an adult. Racoon, opossum, bob cat, fox.... hawk, owl......

 

[Lazy Farmer]

 

[azygous]

It could be anything from a hyena to a raccoon, depending on where in the world you live. But here's an old BYC thread with vivid descriptions of how various predators attack and how the bodies of the victims appear in the aftermath.https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/poultry-predator-identification.18670/

Good luck identifying what killed your chicks and hopefully you will be able to predator-proof your coop and run so it won't keep happening.

 

[marisa wel]

About a week ago, I moved 45 broad breasted chicks to their outside pen. They were about a month old. Our set up next door is an older farmhouse (which we use to wash eggs, canning, and so on). Behind the farmhouse is a fenced in backyard with ducks on one side and baby goats on the other. Next to the baby goats is a building that we use for feed and housing sick animals. There are adult goats in the pen next to it and a dozen 'ready to butcher' birds. Next to the ducks is a pen with pigs. Attached to the pig pen (but not accessible) was another pig pen which is where we put the chicks. It's very close to the farmhouse.

Elsewhere on the property is a large chicken house (fully enclosed), two other large goat pens, and a fully enclosed rabbit hutch.

We had company next door until late and the animals were all fine. This morning, when I went next door to feed the animals, I saw that the chicks were sprawled all over their pen. The weather had dipped a good bit (below 40) but they had shelter so I was confused at first to see bodies everywhere. There is very little blood on the bodies, but some were missing heads or wings. There were no chicks outside of the pen (they had been able to wiggle through some of the taller squares of the pen and we would occasionally find them outside the pen running around). I did find about 8 in the duck pen. I'm fairly certain that I'm missing completely about 6 - 8 chicks. Whatever it was, chased them down all over the pen (fairly large area). It also bypassed several other pens to get to this one.

Any idea what it was and, more importantly, will it return? No chicks were alive in that pen, but there are some hanging out with the ducks and I have a baby goat in that area as well. None of the other pens were disturbed.

twas a mink thot

 

[barnyardblast]

We're in Alabama if that helps. They were killed mostly for sport. I think the ones that are missing body parts might have had that happen after they were dead. (We live in the middle of a forest).

I also wanted to mention that we have five 'tame' cats and probably another four feral ones next door. They've chased the very little baby chicks but not the ones that are this size. And none of them are interested in the remaining chicks in with the goats. We also have about five roosters that roam around - they are all still okay.

 

[Chickiemom25]

I'm in Bama also. My cats generally leave the chickens alone but I had a 3 week old chick killed yesterday and it was a cat or my dog, and by the looks of it, cat. With the colder weather the cats are preying more.

 

[barnyardblast]

It was probably a huge mistake on my part, but I moved my turkeys next door. Since only little animals were being eaten, I thought the turkeys would be okay. They are fairly large and had outgrown their other pen. Plus, there was a dog chasing them when they were out. (I'm working on the dog situation). We had one turkey completely disappear that night so I thought to move them.

I moved them late last night so they could settle in. This morning, everything next door was in chaos. All of the animals were very vocal. I found three dead turkeys right away (bodies intact but dead) and eventually located three alive turkeys (obviously ruffled). I've moved them to the fully enclosed chicken house (which has upset my chickens but it's the only secure place I can think of.) I'm missing eight turkeys completely. I'm hopeful that they are scattered and will wander back. Also, my daughter (who went looking for turkeys - dead or alive) told me that a section of fencing in our goat yard has been completely flattened. She said it looked like something ran into it and knocked it down.

There are trails of feathers next to the dead birds (the dead ones are white and we're seeing white feathers). I haven't found any dead brown birds or brown feathers. Myself and my youngest are moving next door for a week as we're both up a lot during the night. I'm also going to buy some trail cameras.

There is a dog pack that some neighbors are complaining about (that included the single dog I had seen) but we're also in an area known for coyotes, wildcats, and foxes. None of our other animals are being killed (ducks, goats, pigs) only the poultry.

(Side note - I know that I shouldn't keep turkeys with chickens, but these are intended for Thanksgiving so will probably be butchered within a week).

Curious, could wandering dogs, foxes, or whatever cause chickens to stop laying eggs? For the last month, our 50+ chickens have not laid a single egg.