Single Puncture Wound?

[vrendos]

Hello all, I need some help.
My husband and I have had our hens (reds and leghorns) and ducks (mallards and khakis) for a little over a year now. Last night we had our first run in with a predator. About 4 a.m. this morning I heard the birds carrying on and ran out to see what was going on. I saw nothing making a getaway even though it took me less than a minute to get outside after i woke to the commotion.
I have one khaki completely missing, no trace at all. I found a mallard and a khaki both wounded with a single puncture wound to the side. (The khaki died later this morning.) And a red hen dead, all its chest feathers plucked out but still only a single puncture wound to the side.
Our yard is fenced in for a goat and the birds are able to go through the fence but they stay within it at night close to, if not in the coop. All the dead and wounded birds were found within the fenced in area anyway. I'm leaning toward an owl; assuming the wounds are from a talon, but everything else i read says they kill one and eat the head only. All the parts were there, minus the khaki that is completely missing.
I'm not even sure an owl could carry off a full grown khaki; and if it were something else, then why only a single puncture wound?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

~Val

 

[iwiw60]

So sorry for your losses....it's heartbreaking for sure. I can't tell from your forum signature what part of the country you're in so I'm just assuming you live in an area where there are an abundance of predators. With that said, I too live in such an area, and therefore I do not let my girls free-range...at all. I just won't risk it. My coop and run are built like Fort Knox with 1/2" hardware cloth, buried down and 'out' about 12" or more.

Can you post a pic or two of your coop and run so we could get a better idea of what you're up against?

 

[gander007]

Well a first timer

So sorry about your losses not good and yes a Owl can carry off a Khaki Campbell duck with out much of a problem but all the damage you put down sounds more like a cat and they do carry away the kill and was probably there when you went out to look as I have shoot them with in 2 feet of me and it made me jump when I turned on the light as they are not as scared as you might think them predators are only looking for food not a movie script ,,,, But you should look around for foot prints in the sand or dirt ,,,, Did you find how it got in and I have a 6 foot fence but they get in the smallest places ..... Wolverines do you have them in your area now they do just kill for the fun of it .....

 

[vrendos]

I'm not able to post pictures at the moment, but the fence is just a regular woven wire fence all around, connecting to the back of the house. It's about 4 1/2 ft high with a top and bottom strands of high tensile electric fence all around. In the center of that is the chicken coop, the shed for the goats (no goats yet), and the duck house. There's also a fishing boat on a trailer that a lot of times the birds roost under when they don't go in the coop. The rest of the yard is a couple of acres open field surrounded by woods. Below the house there are two ponds that sit back in the woods.
Last night my husband and i set up a blind and waited with a couple of chickens in a cage and a couple of the dead birds out a little farther for bait. All the rest were put in the coop and locked up except for one girl who went missing around dusk. I sat out there from 2am to 7am and I heard raccoons fighting around the pond, coyotes yapping in the woods behind our farm, foxes chattering in the field across the road from us, and an owl somewhere in the distance... so we have our share of predators, unfortunately our guy was a no show.
I know of two stray cats that roam the area but they're both pretty small, I believe the neighbor feeds them. No wolverines in our area. We also have skunk and opossums; as well as mink, weasel, and bobcat in this region; although I have yet to see any around our farm.
The hen that went missing showed up outside the fence this morning, it was obvious something had grabbed her across the back and she had multiple puncture marks. She could barely breath and even though it was a recent wound it wreaked. (I put her down). The width of the bite looked like raccoon or fox.. so hopefully we're narrowing down the culprits.

 

[iwiw60]

Well, from the sounds of your last post it seems you, like me, are plagued with predators. While most of us would like to see our chickens in an ideal situation where they can free-range to their hearts content, those of us with predator/animals that want to kill our birds must reach the conclusion that they cannot...ever. As for myself, my coop and run are built like Fort Knox. I'm a 'ol senior citizen of 70 years, am not afraid to shoot any varmints that come around snooping, but I'd rather head them off at the pass, so-to-speak, than resort to fire power.

Only you can made the decision between free-range or kept in their run...tough decision I know, but one that you need to come to quickly because now that "they" know where your flock is, and how to get in...they're doomed with the present setup you have. I wish you all the very best, and again...I'm so very sorry for your losses.