So tired of predators...

[old biddy]

This is all that is left of my 3 month old rooster, Carlito. I post this under peafowl because Carlito and his three hen sisters have been hatched and raised along with my one and only peachick for the year, Chiquita. I had them all in the same pen and thought the pen was predator proof. I lock them in at night inside a very secure hen house. Just outside their little chicken door is a secure pen with 1/4" hardware cloth on top and sides with a foot of wire buried to keep out digging predators. That outer pen opens out to a larger chicken run made from panels of chain link fence covered in bird netting. At night they are secure inside the henhouse. In the morning I let them out into the secure hardware cloth pen for breakfast and then out into the chain link day run. I went to town today to buy batteries for my game camera and when I returned in late afternoon I went down to set up the game camera. Before I even reached the henhouse I could smell the predator...heavy musky smell. I was immediately on alert and went directly to the henhouse and found Carlito.

His head and one wing and feathers were outside the chain link run. There were feathers inside and outside the fence. It looks like something pulled his head and wing out through the fence. The head was intact but the craw was gone. AND there was no body and no legs. I could find no sign that the predator had entered the pen but it must have done so since the body and legs were gone...unless they had also been pulled through the chain link fence (can't imagine how that could have happened). Another distressing mystery here at Wildhaven Farm. I am distrought at losing Carlito, but am also worried now for the safety of my peachick, Chiquita.

I am thinking of covering the chain link with small bird netting tomorrow but I really don't have much confidence in that solution until I know what predator I am dealing with. I am looking into setting up an electric fence around my pens...not sure what else will help. I appreciate any comments.

 

[Rldad1]

Heavy musky smell spells large boar raccoon! They can pull a chicken through the chain link. Electricity is your friend.

 

[KsKingBee]

We could not do what we do without our Great Pyrenees dogs.

 

[KsKingBee]

How many dogs do you have?

Just two, the way GP's work is there is a far dog and a close dog. One ranges out at the perimeter and the other stays with the flock until needed to help the far dog.

 

[old biddy]

So I just finished running 2 ft. high hardware cloth around the perimeter of our chain link run. The rest of the chain link will be covered with small 1/4" bird netting on all sides in addition to the hardware cloth. The top of the pen has 2" large bird netting and I am also going to stretch the 1/4" bird netting over on top of that. Not sure if this is overkill or still not enough, but that's what I've done. My vision is to have full fencing around my 20+ acres plus the two Great Pyrenees doggies (KS KingBee)...but not sure when I can pull that off. This is just a never ending story. My daughter half jokingly said she appreciates me dedicating my life to the family having eggs every morning (chickens) and of course to our beautiful peafowl. We laughed at that...but actually it is true. We recently finished building a beautiful house on the hill after living in two small cabins for the ten years it took us to build the house...and yet I spend all my time outdoors down at the cabins with our farm cats, chickens, peafowl - and potting cuttings from my azaleas, camellias, gardenias, bamboo and dogwoods. It is a beautiful life with the only stressors being these dang predators. I set the live trap tonight to see if we can catch the varmint - and I have the game camera on.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I have two dogs that I walk on my perimeter daily.
I had a lone wolf a long time ago but I think the pack of coyotes eliminated it. And when a pack of wolves returned, they didn't come back after the tornado went through.
The coyotes seem to keep the larger predators away for the most part and the dogs deter the coyote from my property.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Sorry for your loss

 

[KsKingBee]

Do Great Pyrenees kill weasels too?

A lot of the deterrent is the dog crapping on the perimeter of the property keeping varmints away, it isn't just killing. They can also be trained as in the top pic showing that they do not chase our deer.

 

[old biddy]

so sorry I cried for days when this same thing happened to us in our case it was a possum

My first thought was a raccoon...second thought was a possum. My thinking is either one could reach through the chain link, grab the chicken and pull it through the fence and bite the head off. But there was no sign of the body, just the head and a wing pulled through the fence. Could the raccoon or possum keep reaching through the fence pulling the body apart until it got the whole thing outside the fence and consume or take off with everything and yet leaving the head and the wing? There was no sign of any other body parts or guts, etc. Just the head and a wing left with a bunch of feathers. What could have done something like this?

 

[KsKingBee]

Nocturnal predators that hunt during the day often times carry rabies. Be careful cleaning up the debris by wearing rubber gloves.