Something got my chickens!!!!

[Chickities4]

On Monday morning, we had something get into our chicken pen and kill four of our chickens.

It was my big white jersey giant rooster, my two marans, and an ameuracuana. Then the next morning, one of my orpingtons died from its injuries. And we have my polish crested with injuries to its back, she seems to be recovering, thankfully! (she's my fave)
I just want to know what it was that got in there. We found the entry, it went under the fence in a spot where the fence was slightly above the ground. We've filled in all around the coop so nothing can get under as easily.
Our coop is raised up and the only was in is a hatch on the bottom, we used to close it, but then we stopped, but now we're closing it again.
The rooster was killed outside, and the 3 hens inside. They didn't look like something was trying to eat them. The only one that looked somewhat opened was the ameuracana. The other 2 hens were our more aggresive/protective hens, so we think they tried to fend off the intruder.
Our house is right next to the chicken coop, but we didn't hear a single thing all night long! which we thought really strange.
On top of this, my big dog, Jake, he's a rodegian ridge back mix, we think he has some boxer in him. He hunts. He keeps our property clear of predators, so we NEVER see anything! Which makes this even weirder... He also hates cats, he kills any cat he sees.
Later that morning that we found the dead chickens, we found a dead cat in a horse's stall not 20 ft from the coop! We don't really think a ferrel cat could kill 4 chickens and injure another 2... could it?
It just seems too coincidental.... what do you think? We've played it over in our heads a million times and can't come up with any thing..... Any ideas are welcome

 

[CMV]

Can you describe in more detail the injuries and the attack site? It's hard to form a clear picture of what happened from your vague description.

Sorry about your birds. That's a bummer!

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Cats are extremely efficient predators, and will kill for thrills. Not big enough? They're about 50 times the size of a weasel, which also has no trouble killing chickens. Our female housecats run off any size dog when they're guarding young'uns. I suspect the cat crawled under the fence, got your chickens, then your dog found the cat and re-established chain of command in the yard.

 

[Chickities4]

Out of the coop, near the entrance, my rooster was dead. His feathers were all over the entire pen! But when we looked at him, he didn't have any marks or blood, and blood would be easy to see on him because he's all white. which was weird. I didn't actually get to see the ones that were killed inside, my mom deposed of them before i got out. She said that only one looked like it had been opened. the other two were puncture wounds. And there were feathers everywhere inside the coop aswell!
The orpington that died the next day: her injury was a puncture on her under side. it looked like it only went through the skin.
The polish crested that is still alive, she has a big puncture, almost like a hole in her back. It's in between the wings and closer to her neck than her tail. She also had a smaller puncture not far from the other one. And she's also limping on her left leg. I'm so surprised that she's alive, i thought she wouldn't make it past the first day. It's looking better, like it's healing, and she's still laying eggs! the poor girl, i wish she'd take a break.

Another thing i should mention, is that there were feathers out side from my polish and the orpington. Like they were attacked out of the coop.
We couldn't find any paw prints to tell what it was. And it couldn't have been big because the door to get into the coop is rather small.
I hope this helps

 

[Chickities4]

Yes Paula, that's what i think, but my mom doesn't believe that a cat can kill our big rooster and the other hens. Because the two marans are our more aggresive/protective hens. They wouldn't go without a big fight! i'll tell her about the weasel thing, maybe then she might believe the cat killed them.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

The cat's proximity to the chickens doesn't really establish anything. Although it's true that cats "play" with thier prey (for practice, not just for fun as some suggest), it does not sound convincing to me that a cat killed your chickens, and then when it was done your dog noticed and killed the cat. I suggest you look into coop security, because I think there is another animal out there that killed your chickens. To be honest, what you are describing sounds more like a dog attack.

 

[Chickities4]

We don't seriously believe that the cat killed the chickens, but it seems too coincidental that the cat was there. We're keeping the door closed at night and we have a light shining on it to turn off any predators, we also turned our security camera to face it, if it catches anything. What ever it was, was small, the wire fence was just bent at the entry site, no hole was dug. A dog can't get into the coop. It's too small of a hole, and my dog Jake wouldn't let any dog near our property. That's the one good thing about having a hunting dog on our 10-acre property.

Oh, and we're also working on putting up an electric fence on the perimeter of the pen.

 

[chics in the sun]

Where in Florida are you? I know there have been more coyotes down here now.

 

[Chickities4]

I live in south florida, Palm Beach area. I've never heard of coyotes around here though.

 

[chics in the sun]

I think I heard a report about them being as far south as Miami. I can't remeber for sure.