Predator problem?

[Majd]

I'd say humans maybe.... and teens... as they're doing it so often....

 

[theduckgirl4110]

Oooooooooh! I want to know what's gonna happen sooooooooooooooo bad! Keep us posted please.

 

[Sjisty]

I'm subscribing!

 

[enola]

I live beside a small trailer "community". I had to put a padlock on the hen house door so my eggs couldn't be stolen.

 

[tatertot]

Have you reported your missing chickens to the law? Take pics of your Chickens as proof of ownership..just in case the mystery is solved and you get yours back...I sure hope you don't lose anymore..,,......so your the crazy chicken lady....glad to meet ya

 

[CrzyCknLady]

Tonight we put a sensor in the coop. If anyone opens the door, the alarm will go off inside the house. It's wicked loud in the house but you can't hear it out at the coop or within 50' of the coop. I want to catch whatever it is red handed. I don't want anyone to get away with this if it is a human. I want my hens back or restitution. I have tons of pictures of the flock - I was just going through my phone and realized I take more pictures of the chickens than I do my kids.

I mentioned my predicament to a couple of neighbors and they said they'd keep an eye out but honestly - I don't want to say too much because you just never know who it could be. I just find it impossible that 19 hens would disappear without a trace due to a predator. I also spoke to one of our village trustee's and I will be mentioning it to the village cop when I see him......

My run has chicken wire as well as the clear plastic corrugated roofing stuff on the top of it so there is nothing getting in from above. When I built it, I doubled up with hardware cloth and chicken wire at the bottom and then I've given the entire thing a really good look over to see if I was just missing something - but there is nothing I can see that isn't exactly as I built it - no chicken wire pulled down or torn, no fence boards missing or loose, no feathers within 1/10 of a mile......I am just completely at a loss as to where my ladies have run off to. This week I lost a Barred Rock, White Leghorn, Olive Egger and a mutt from my own flock that looked just like a Buff Orpington. That's quite a variety there. I was getting 15 eggs a day (major molting going on within the flock now too) and the last 3 days......7. Something must have happened to scare the crap out of them. It seems like when I lose hens, my egg production goes down for a few days too.....I can't believe it took me this long to think about it being a human instead of a fox.

I will definitely keep you updated if I find out anything. I'm guessing it'll be a couple of days before anything else comes up missing - but geesh - at this rate, I'm going to end up with just my 4 roosters left and no hens. My ratio is all messed up now - hopefully I can get rid of one of the roosters soon and get back to where I was - at least an 8:1 ratio - now I'm like 5:1 - even though I seem to have a gender neutral chicken, I still count him as a rooster because that's what he is supposed to be.

 

[tatertot]

You go girl..keep
Us posted

 

[tatertot]

What exactly is a gender neutral chicken? Like a late Bloomer?

 

[tatertot]

Id def

 

[tatertot]

I'd definitely say human cause it sounds like you've made it pretty predator proof...I'd be amazed to see a fox or racoon close the door upon leaving..be sure to be ready to bolt out the doors at any time during the night...cause they will have a quick getaway...they've been successful so far..about what hours do they go missing...that's your best bet