Predator identification help please! *seek and destroy*

[roosterhavoc]

Lock them up solid. Fix any gaps or weak points.

Stinks losing birds.

Edited to add...
My birds are locked up. We have a lot of hawks and fox and coons and I am sure skunks.
My neighbor went from 30+ in the spring last year.....no coop no run just running around free. They have none left. I have found pieces of their young birds in the alley behind my yard. So senseless and sad.

It’s only senseless when people don’t take the necessary steps to keep them alive. Free ranging birds 24/7 will result in an occasional loss since legally you can’t do anything about hawks and owls. Everything else can be trapped. I keep birds totally free range. I have quite a few birds that were hatched in the woods under a hen and have been running loose for years.
It cannot be done with just cage and DP raccoon traps.
The folks that free range birds and then say “well losses are expected” are just lazy in my opinion.

 

[Eggscaping]

I would strongly recommend no birds OR cats OR goats roaming the property while the predator issue gets sorted out.

Agreed. And maybe give the poor cats some extra love to make up for scoldings that leave them cowering under things.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It’s only senseless when people don’t take the necessary steps to keep them alive. Free ranging birds 24/7 will result in an occasional loss since legally you can’t do anything about hawks and owls. Everything else can be trapped. I keep birds totally free range. I have quite a few birds that were hatched in the woods under a hen and have been running loose for years.
It cannot be done with just cage and DP raccoon traps.
The folks that free range birds and then say “well losses are expected” are just lazy in my opinion.

Yeah...options here are limited as we are in town.
That is why mine are kept in coops and runs.
I have lost zero to predation here.

 

[Elsveta641]

I apparently need to clarify that my birds free range about 10am to 7pm and are in pens inside a building the rest of the time. This is the first year we've had problems

 

[Elsveta641]

Agreed. And maybe give the poor cats some extra love to make up for scoldings that leave them cowering under things.

I yelled at a cat. Is this abuse? This particular cat is an intolerable, chick eating butt-wagon who I took in out of pity if it matters

 

[21hens-incharge]

I apparently need to clarify that my birds free range about 10am to 7pm and are in pens inside a building the rest of the time. This is the first year we've had problems

Sorry if you thought we were referring to you. I did see where you have pens for them.

I was referring to the devastating losses my unprepared neighbor has had.

 

[Elsveta641]

Sorry if you thought we were referring to you. I did see where you have pens for them.

I was referring to the devastating losses my unprepared neighbor has had.

And I thought I was prepared! Apparently I was not and my roosters had just been doing their job really well. Very frustrating. Especially having to deprive everyone of their freedom now. I have chickens named Django and William Wallace, oh the irony

 

[2 many chickens]

I yelled at a cat. Is this abuse? This particular cat is an intolerable, chick eating butt-wagon who I took in out of pity if it matters

Don't forget locking the cat away and beating him with the carcass of a dead hen. Also crazily crying while holding a dead hen in front of the cat. Poor cat must be seriously traumatized.

 

[roosterhavoc]

And I thought I was prepared! Apparently I was not and my roosters had just been doing their job really well. Very frustrating. Especially having to deprive everyone of their freedom now. I have chickens named Django and William Wallace, oh the irony

What job was your roosters doing? Sometimes I’ll go a few years without any fox issues then I’ll have to catch 2-3 in a year. They come when they want. No chicken makes a difference.

 

[21hens-incharge]

And I thought I was prepared! Apparently I was not and my roosters had just been doing their job really well. Very frustrating. Especially having to deprive everyone of their freedom now. I have chickens named Django and William Wallace, oh the irony

It is rather ironic.

It is for their safety while you get the predator situation figured out.