This is long, but I've had a problem this summer that has gotten steadily worse.
I live in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California. I have been in the same area for 10 years and never had this problem, now I either have one or two separate predator problems that I need help with?
My chickens live in several different styles of housing, the primary ones being covered chain link Kennels with roosts and shelters. I also have a wooden shed that has been converted to a chicken house, but is not large enough for all of the birds I have at this time.
Over the course of the summer I have been losing one bird after another. No body, no sign. Just gone.
The other night, at about 1:30 a.m., we heard a commotion in one of the kennels. DH and I went out to the pet area (Through the locked gates, it's like Fort Knox) and found P.J., my only Jersey Giant, on the ground. He was just laying there, kinda stunned, but okay.....I was worried about why he would have fallen off the perch?? So I carried him around and looked to see if anything was out of place in the rest of the pet area and everyone seemed fine. I put P.J. down in the corner, I didnt want him falling again, and we secured the gates and left. The coop doors were open that night, for the last time. I never saw P.J. again. Where does a 13 pound rooster in a gated yard disappear to?? I was thinking we had a Bobcat, to have gotten over the 4 foot locked gate and taken a 13 pound Jersey Giant without leaving a feather?
Since then I've been going out in the evening and closing the doors to all of the coops/kennels.
Then this morning I went to open up the doors of the coops to let the chickens out of their various housing, and I was horrified to find, in my Cuckoo Marans pen, my small light Brahma (not a Marans, but just a 12 week old that likes to hang out there) had had her head pulled through the chain link and torn off, her inner organs torn open and cleaned out. Whatever it was, it was small enough to fit between a building and the kennel (six inches) and dig under the edge of the kennel (the hole was about 3 inches deep and 6 inches wide)...it had to have been inside the kennel also, possibly more than one, because my last sizzle chick was laying there dead, but no marks on it that I could see??
Perhaps rats or something? What small predator would do this?? What can I do to secure the kennels to keep the chickens safe? We have temporary lights set up that we can turn on until we get sensor lights, I want to find out about "deterrants" if anyone wants to recommend anything...Cameras, guard dogs, any suggestions are appreciated!
I'll worry about the legal stuff later, and I want the problem gone, I want to take care of it myself (Why not, my neighbor didnt like any of my 5 cats leaving my property and trapped and killed each and every one of them - but I only used paintballs when his dog killed my ducks - now we're even?)
Thank you for any of your help - I may just move out there til I know they're safe. We're going to relocate some of the more vulnerable ones til I know it's safer, if it ever gets that way.
Tina/tfpets
I live in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California. I have been in the same area for 10 years and never had this problem, now I either have one or two separate predator problems that I need help with?
My chickens live in several different styles of housing, the primary ones being covered chain link Kennels with roosts and shelters. I also have a wooden shed that has been converted to a chicken house, but is not large enough for all of the birds I have at this time.
Over the course of the summer I have been losing one bird after another. No body, no sign. Just gone.
The other night, at about 1:30 a.m., we heard a commotion in one of the kennels. DH and I went out to the pet area (Through the locked gates, it's like Fort Knox) and found P.J., my only Jersey Giant, on the ground. He was just laying there, kinda stunned, but okay.....I was worried about why he would have fallen off the perch?? So I carried him around and looked to see if anything was out of place in the rest of the pet area and everyone seemed fine. I put P.J. down in the corner, I didnt want him falling again, and we secured the gates and left. The coop doors were open that night, for the last time. I never saw P.J. again. Where does a 13 pound rooster in a gated yard disappear to?? I was thinking we had a Bobcat, to have gotten over the 4 foot locked gate and taken a 13 pound Jersey Giant without leaving a feather?
Since then I've been going out in the evening and closing the doors to all of the coops/kennels.
Then this morning I went to open up the doors of the coops to let the chickens out of their various housing, and I was horrified to find, in my Cuckoo Marans pen, my small light Brahma (not a Marans, but just a 12 week old that likes to hang out there) had had her head pulled through the chain link and torn off, her inner organs torn open and cleaned out. Whatever it was, it was small enough to fit between a building and the kennel (six inches) and dig under the edge of the kennel (the hole was about 3 inches deep and 6 inches wide)...it had to have been inside the kennel also, possibly more than one, because my last sizzle chick was laying there dead, but no marks on it that I could see??
Perhaps rats or something? What small predator would do this?? What can I do to secure the kennels to keep the chickens safe? We have temporary lights set up that we can turn on until we get sensor lights, I want to find out about "deterrants" if anyone wants to recommend anything...Cameras, guard dogs, any suggestions are appreciated!
I'll worry about the legal stuff later, and I want the problem gone, I want to take care of it myself (Why not, my neighbor didnt like any of my 5 cats leaving my property and trapped and killed each and every one of them - but I only used paintballs when his dog killed my ducks - now we're even?)
Thank you for any of your help - I may just move out there til I know they're safe. We're going to relocate some of the more vulnerable ones til I know it's safer, if it ever gets that way.
Tina/tfpets
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