Something entered my coop last night!!!

[tammye]

glad to hear they are doing well. I think you need to build a more secure coop for your remaining hens, because that predator is coming back and behind him will be another one. Make it so you can lock them up at night, but they will need to be in something with sides and a door. see if you have some scrap material around your yard , at least you will need to put up the 1/4 inch chicken wire or the hardware cloth on all sides and the top to creat a cover.Good luck

 

[Suzie]

That is so awful - I had rats come in and kill 7 of my Indian Runner chicks - they just bit their heads and left the mangled remains behind - it is heartbreaking BUT hopefully your surviving babies will be ok!

Maybe we all need a feral cat like Attila! We have a feral cat here which we call cCaos - that is because she causes the male GSD her to go berserk when he hears her - she is fine with the chickens and young chicks here though.

My thoughts are with you for a positive outcome for your chickens - predators come in all shapes and sizes and we have plenty here - foxes, buzzards, polecats, hunting dogs straying onto our land and of course rats!

Suzie

 

[vickircafe]

She is doing fine and even somehow flew up onto the edge of her plastic tub I am keeping her in. Don't know how she balanced with just 1 wing, but she did. I did change to just peroxide rinse. I don't have any blue kote or betadine and the roads were bad today so I wasn't about to attempt driving on them. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

I did get another attack on another pen last night. No one was killed. Just a bloody head injury on my silkie roo. The comb is bloody and some of the head. I had 3 silkies in that coop so I just brought all 3 of them in. These are the full grown silkies. I put them in another plastic tub with straw and they seem happy. I sure wish I had a porch. I now have 6 chickens and 8 2 week old babies in a brooder in my house. Thankfully it doesn't smell too much. I change the straw out about every day in the brooder and the 3 tubs. It is a lot of work, but I do not want anything to happen to them so even with the work it is worth it to me. Just would be nice to have a garage, shed or porch to put them in. Oh well!! My big coop with 11 hens and 3 roosters is secure but I am even worrying about them tonight. They are the only ones left outside so they are going to be the prime target now. I have 1 inch chicken wire on the bottom of the coop and it is raised off of the ground about 2 and a half ft. It is surrounded by a run but if something first gets in the run, then through that 1" wire floor it will be disaster for the chickens again. I just cannot bring in 14 chickens along with the other I have in my house. Luckily I don't ever get visitors or they would have me locked in the funny farm seeing my set up with all the chickens in the livingroom. My grown kids already think I'm crazy because when they call all I ever talk about is my chickens.

I am borrowing a trap tomorrow if the roads are good and will set that up tomorrow night to try and catch whatever it is. Sure don't know what I will do with it if I catch it but I'll worry about that if I catch it. I am thinking it is maybe a weasel or mink.

 

[dinahmoe]

hey neighbor,
it is probably a coon.i have caught several.what type of covering do you have on top of your pens?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Quote:
That cat has a collar, if it has a collar it isn't feral.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How is everyone this morning? and don't worry about your kids taking you to the funny farm, I'll be there waiting on ya, I talk about my chickens, ducks and goose non stop also. So we're all a little funny!

 

[vickircafe]

Hey dinahmoe -- We are neighbors I live closer to Milledgeville than Sparta. I have a tarp covering the dog pen where all the chickens got killed. Do you think a coon could climb over a 6' pen and get under the tarp? On the laying hens coop it is all wood sides, a tin roof and a 1" chicken wire floor. I am just worried about the floor. The coop is raised 2 and a half ft. off of the ground. But whatever it is has to get into the run first before it can get to the coop.

Everyone is doing great today. No mishaps last night. I did not get my trap yet. I tried to get out of my driveway but I drove in and have to back out and the driveway is all ice and up hill. My tires just spin. So I am hoping it melts better tomorrow than it did today (only 34 degrees today for a high). As soon as I can get out I will have a trap and feel much better once I catch what ever it is.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

A coon could certainly get into the run, even with a tarp covering it. They are very good climbers and can worm their way into most places their heads can fit like a cat.

 

[vickircafe]

Then I think I have narrowed it down to either a weasel or a coon. I wasn't thinking coon because the dog pen is so high and no way could a coon fit through the chain link fence. If they can climb chain link fencing then it very well could be a coon.

 

[dinahmoe]

i am still leaning towards coon.they can climb and open just about anything.so make sure the coop doors are locked tight.not with a hook and loop or a turn lock(like on old barns) either.i bougth my traps at tractor supply and i think it was 2 traps for $25.i have caught a bunch of coons with cat food with the big one.alot of people suggest marshmellows.
the roads here are pretty good but the driveways and yards are still messy.
i hope all goes well tonite and maybe you can get the trap wed.

oh yeah,if it is chicken wire on the bottom only,a coon will chew and rip that off no problem.you should re-enforce that with strong hardware cloth.