SOMEONE is killing my hens

[BBQJOE]

My money would be on a young male neighbor with serious emotional disturbance

Well there's a thought.

I find this whole thing rather perplexing. I have some ideas, but don't want anyone to go to jail.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Well.... if we accept that it is a person, it is probably a young person.... or at least an immature person, and killing animals is a precursor to much worse things which is why I speculate disturbed.... And statistically it is most probably a male. And if young it is probably someone from nearby.

 

[am040608]

I scald the bird and removed her feathers to look for bites or marks. I didnt find anything :/

 

[BBQJOE]

Do you have anyone in your neighborhood into voodoo?

 

[am040608]

We have a baby monitor. Ill do that.
We dont have foxes out here. We do have coyotes but they have never come down the hills that I'veever seen. I can only hear them in the latenight.
What predators would attack in daylight?
I do try and turn the coop bedding daily to keep anything out. Ive never seen anything in it before. Its quite cold though, something may have last night.
Could an opossum break a large hens neck?
Id feel so much better if i were an animal. I just dont see how the same could have done both birds. They havent been bothered once in the entire 9 months ive had them out here.

Get a cheap baby monitor and place it in coop (We've been using the same two $20.00 Safety First monitors, purchased in 2005). These are very useful if you're at home and, if volume is cranked to max and at head of bed - chickens growling/whining/clucking after the sun goes down/anything messing with fence/gate/coop (hang a couple fishing bells/empty cans on fence/gate, as well) will alert one to the ruckus and allow one to blast area with light (flood/hand held spot) and, with luck, ID whatever it is.

Attach bait (bacon/marshmallows/potpourri bag jammed full of peanut butter), on 2"x4"'s (1"x8" even better) and spread flour along/across top of the boards (if it isn't going to rain/snow cardboard boxes cut open and flattened out will work/lids from garbage cans, etc.) with the bait. This will allow one to rule out/in standard vermin (should have some tracks/smears made by tails, bait removed).

Game cam with IR function is also OK. Or, cut to the chase and put out live traps.

Human preds, like any other species, tend to travel along the least difficult paths to and from - fishing line stretched across those at about a foot above ground might clue a human to imagine more lethal booby traps closer to coop. Firing a couple of rounds from a .22 into the ground at random times will also give those humans in earshot something to think about. I'd also guess you're probably dealing with standard pred/preds (a small opossum - not much bigger than a good sized wharf rat - can secret itself away in coop and attack a hen at a time - bite marks not always easy to ID).

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Quote:

I did take photos

Did the photos look like this? The raptor in this image is a falcon and falcons are unlikely chicken predators but they butcher their vittles similar to the way that all raptors butcher their meat.

 

[am040608]

Do you have anyone in your neighborhood into voodoo?

Ive heard that there are in the hills. But most folks dont even keep their chickens in any sort of enclosed space or a run. They just roam freely. Its not uncommon to stop your car for a chicken in the road. Even my neighbors sheep are often found grazing in my yard or inspecting my front door step (they are all raised by hand indoors). I'm quite honestly at a loss for why someone would target the ones behind a large fence if that were the reason.

 

[am040608]

Quote: Did the photos look like this? The raptor in this image is a falcon and falcons are unlikely chicken predators but they butcher their vittles similar to the way that all raptors butcher their meat.

I can post it, but Id hate to upset anyone.

 

[happyfrenchman]

If it were an animal, that certainly would be alot better..... I sympathize. If it did turn out to be a young neighbor, that would be very scary. You probably should call the sheriff or police just to get their opinion.

I have a friend who had a young boy in his neighborhood that was killing pets. He was at first quite careless about it, but then he got sneakier. He moved away much to my friends relief.

 

[am040608]

If it were an animal, that certainly would be alot better..... I sympathize. If it did turn out to be a young neighbor, that would be very scary. You probably should call the sheriff or police just to get their opinion.

I have a friend who had a young boy in his neighborhood that was killing pets. He was at first quite careless about it, but then he got sneakier. He moved away much to my friends relief.

Unfortunately I do have my suspicions who it might be. The night before the first chicken was killed the closest neighbors wife knocked on our door asking if we had seen their small Chihuahua mix. She had let him out at 2:30 in the morning and he never came home. He liked to snoff in our yard but he was small and harmless. She said her teenage son was very upset over the missing dog. The first hen was killed the next day. The other the following day.
Im wondering if he thinks we have his dog?
New years he threw fireworks from his moving vehicle at our patio where I was sitting. I got the idea he was a bit of a punk.