Elsveta641
Songster
Background:
Since the passing of my Liege Fighter rooster last month, I have lost over half my free range flock to predators. We are located in rural western Iowa which is in the central United States
What I know:
Predator takes grown hens, cockrels, grow outs and babies indiscriminately both single kills and in mass.
Birds as large as 12 pounds have been taken in broad daylight.
Predator is something that would have been frightened of a 14 pound, 32 inch high rooster but not a regular sized rooster, loud music or cats
Animal can manipulate and open 3 way latches and is strong enough to tear open pens made of anything but welded wire. Can and has chewed through 1x4 lumber.
Kills happen at all times of day and night, have happened in the barn, garage and yard.
Bodies are not always eaten but always show evidence of chew damage even when only feathers are found.
The predator prefers strong, large chickens. I have 2 disabled chickens who can hardly walk, they are never targeted even when used as live bait for a camera trap.
Cats previously thought guilty have been removed from our property or were in the closed up garage at the time of the most recent attack today except one. He was found cowering under a truck. The body of the hen has not been located after a thorough search leading me to believe he is not guilty. The search took place within 5 minutes of the attack based on when we discovered the feathers.
Lastly:
Photos below are of the "crime scene" today. Photos of mud in the area enhanced in an effort to identify tracks. A aerial map of the property with points of interest marked:
Purple is fox dens
Dark blue is where we have found raccoons or opossum living in the past.
Grey is woodchuck/prairie dog dens
Orange dots are locations of previous kills, bodies found and feather piles from attacks.
Red is location of today's feather piles
Light blue is my pens and the room that contains them.
Yellow is the rest of the poultry barn which is empty and not secured.
Large building is a large old barn used for straw and tool storage.
Green is our attached garage.
The farmers to the NW, NE and SE own dogs.
Below is the smaller feather pile right at the pens chicken entrance. Feathers did not extend into the pens.
this next photo is the main feather pile toward the center of the yard. Stray feathers trailed towards the driveway to the west, but not past the chicken door to the east. No feathers found in other directions.
Below is a close up of possible tracks between the two piles.
Lastly the chicken taken was the 1.5 year old Brahma on the left below. The picture was taken less than 24hrs sho.
Her name was Carrie and she is survived by her sister Samantha. She weighed about 9lbs.
Since the passing of my Liege Fighter rooster last month, I have lost over half my free range flock to predators. We are located in rural western Iowa which is in the central United States
What I know:
Predator takes grown hens, cockrels, grow outs and babies indiscriminately both single kills and in mass.
Birds as large as 12 pounds have been taken in broad daylight.
Predator is something that would have been frightened of a 14 pound, 32 inch high rooster but not a regular sized rooster, loud music or cats
Animal can manipulate and open 3 way latches and is strong enough to tear open pens made of anything but welded wire. Can and has chewed through 1x4 lumber.
Kills happen at all times of day and night, have happened in the barn, garage and yard.
Bodies are not always eaten but always show evidence of chew damage even when only feathers are found.
The predator prefers strong, large chickens. I have 2 disabled chickens who can hardly walk, they are never targeted even when used as live bait for a camera trap.
Cats previously thought guilty have been removed from our property or were in the closed up garage at the time of the most recent attack today except one. He was found cowering under a truck. The body of the hen has not been located after a thorough search leading me to believe he is not guilty. The search took place within 5 minutes of the attack based on when we discovered the feathers.
Lastly:
Photos below are of the "crime scene" today. Photos of mud in the area enhanced in an effort to identify tracks. A aerial map of the property with points of interest marked:
Purple is fox dens
Dark blue is where we have found raccoons or opossum living in the past.
Grey is woodchuck/prairie dog dens
Orange dots are locations of previous kills, bodies found and feather piles from attacks.
Red is location of today's feather piles
Light blue is my pens and the room that contains them.
Yellow is the rest of the poultry barn which is empty and not secured.
Large building is a large old barn used for straw and tool storage.
Green is our attached garage.
The farmers to the NW, NE and SE own dogs.
Below is the smaller feather pile right at the pens chicken entrance. Feathers did not extend into the pens.
Below is a close up of possible tracks between the two piles.
Lastly the chicken taken was the 1.5 year old Brahma on the left below. The picture was taken less than 24hrs sho.
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