Predator identification help please! *seek and destroy*

[Elsveta641]

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.

Fake crying, thank you very much. And again the cat is huge and the dead bird was a couple pounds tops, plus missing parts so no different than a newspaper spanking honestly. What's you're deal, nothing good to troll on Facebook or what?

 

[Elsveta641]

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.

It just struck me as odd it began as soon as the big 2 roosters died. Perhaps I give them too much credit. But it was the only thing that changed around here between peace and disaster.
How about men and male animals urinating around the area as a deterrent. Is that a real thing? Should we get to peeing or is that a myth?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Doesn't have to be male! My neighbor's dog barked incessantly when I worked in my garden; we shared a chain-link fence. I got fed up and spent a day peeing in quart jars. Then I went out and marked my side of the garden, thoroughly. He got it and we had peace - until it rained and I had to do it again. This loudmouth was about a six-lb cockapoo.

 

[roosterhavoc]

It just struck me as odd it began as soon as the big 2 roosters died. Perhaps I give them too much credit. But it was the only thing that changed around here between peace and disaster.
How about men and male animals urinating around the area as a deterrent. Is that a real thing? Should we get to peeing or is that a myth?

I may have missed it but the roosters were killed right?
No peeing around your yard will only make your yard smell like pee. The foxes and whatever else can smell every person and animal on you property. They know your there and they avoid you when they go after the birds. They do it for a living so they have far more patience than us.

 

[WthrLady]

From rural eastern Nebraska...it's a fox.

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.

View attachment 1863135
Below is the smaller feather pile right at the pens chicken entrance. Feathers did not extend into the pens.
View attachment 1863140 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.
View attachment 1863142
Below is a close up of possible tracks between the two piles.
View attachment 1863143
Lastly the chicken taken was the 1.5 year old Brahma on the left below. The picture was taken less than 24hrs sho. View attachment 1863155 Her name was Carrie and she is survived by her sister Samantha. She weighed about 9lbs.

 

[WthrLady]

And they lesrn your habits and stalk you and the flock until you are out of reach. Or not. Ive had one run right at me to grab a bird by my feet. We trap and snare with motion activated cameras that adea that alert to our cell phones so fox is immediately dispatched.

We use meat and cat food and fox scent as lure.

 

[kissezmychicken]

Fake crying, thank you very much. And again the cat is huge and the dead bird was a couple pounds tops, plus missing parts so no different than a newspaper spanking honestly. What's you're deal, nothing good to troll on Facebook or what?

Relax, dont let others bother you too much.. Its the internet.. Not worth getting upset.. That person probably didn't mean to be a troll.. People on this site are generally very kind to one another.

 

[cmom]

A few months ago something got a gate open to my grow-out coop pen opened. I'm sure it wasn't a coon. The only predators That were on the camera that points to that coop was a fox and coyote. It was a little foggy that night so I couldn't see what actually got the gate opened but whatever it was it must have gotten a shock because the pole next to the gate that the electric wire is attached to was knocked over. Two birds were killed. All I found next to the coop was some feathers. I wired the gates shut and the next morning I noticed the gate had been messed with. The only predator I had on that camera that morning was a coyote. Shortly after a fox came into the yard during the middle of the day while I was otherwise occupied and killed my very special hen that was out. I'm still mad at myself that I didn't leave her in her pen.
I have posted these pictures before.

 

[Elsveta641]

I may have missed it but the roosters were killed right?
No peeing around your yard will only make your yard smell like pee. The foxes and whatever else can smell every person and animal on you property. They know your there and they avoid you when they go after the birds. They do it for a living so they have far more patience than us.

The big roosters who I believe were somehow discouraging the predators one died of an illness and fight with another rooster. The second I put him down because after he contributed to that roos death, he started attacking us. They were 14 and 18lbs.
My surviving roos and the 2 who have been killed by predators were/are between 4-8lbs or so.

 

[Elsveta641]

A few months ago something got a gate open to my grow-out coop pen opened. I'm sure it wasn't a coon. The only predators That were on the camera that points to that coop was a fox and coyote. It was a little foggy that night so I couldn't see what actually got the gate opened but whatever it was it must have gotten a shock because the pole next to the gate that the electric wire is attached to was knocked over. Two birds were killed. All I found next to the coop was some feathers. I wired the gates shut and the next morning I noticed the gate had been messed with. The only predator I had on that camera that morning was a coyote. Shortly after a fox came into the yard during the middle of the day while I was otherwise occupied and killed my very special hen that was out. I'm still mad at myself that I didn't leave her in her pen.
I have posted these pictures before.

View attachment 1864678 View attachment 1864680

I'm sorry about your birds, it is strange how they target the good ones, like our favorites taste better to them somehow :/
My camera caught nothing last night but the live trap in the barn was triggered yet empty. I think the roosterhavoc person is right, I'm going to have to get snares or legtraps. I hate those things, but I dont think I have much choice at this point. Besides letting whatever it is keep eating my birds.