Something strange is going on!

[Chickeroonie keeper]

Okay. Around a 1-2 months ago, something got into one of my chicken coops and stole all my silkies (10 birds)- they vanished without a trace (besides some feathers). The next day I found three wandering around in my yard, unscathed. I immediately went and posted a thread, in which people thought somebody stole my chickens and dropped off three because they felt bad. I wasn’t so sure. A few weeks later, same thing. Something stole an Easter egger hen and 6 silkie roosters. I went back to the thread, they thought a person had come back for round two. Then, about a week ago, I caught a fox attempting to steal another Easter egger hen! I got her back, and she’s continuing to recover. I set a fox trap, plopped my huge dog out by the chicken coop, and thought all was well. HOWEVER, today I went out to collect eggs, and found a giant pile of feathers- I think from a silkie. The three girls I have left are all perfectly fine and the coop seemed unbothered. Where did this huge pile of feathers come from?!

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Okay. Around a 1-2 months ago, something got into one of my chicken coops and stole all my silkies (10 birds)- they vanished without a trace (besides some feathers). The next day I found three wandering around in my yard, unscathed. I immediately went and posted a thread, in which people thought somebody stole my chickens and dropped off three because they felt bad. I wasn’t so sure. A few weeks later, same thing. Something stole an Easter egger hen and 6 silkie roosters. I went back to the thread, they thought a person had come back for round two. Then, about a week ago, I caught a fox attempting to steal another Easter egger hen! I got her back, and she’s continuing to recover. I set a fox trap, plopped my huge dog out by the chicken coop, and thought all was well. HOWEVER, today I went out to collect eggs, and found a giant pile of feathers- I think from a silkie. The three girls I have left are all perfectly fine and the coop seemed unbothered. Where did this huge pile of feathers come from?!

That looks like a predator attack. Can you set more traps? Do you have a way to confine the remaining ones for their own safety?

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

That looks like a predator attack. Can you set more traps? Do you have a way to confine the remaining ones for their own safety?

I don’t have more traps, and there are still 12 big chickens left so I can’t really move them

 

[neo71665]

Is your run covered? That kinda looks like might be an large owl or raptor this time.

 

[NatJ]

today I went out to collect eggs, and found a giant pile of feathers- I think from a silkie. The three girls I have left are all perfectly fine and the coop seemed unbothered. Where did this huge pile of feathers come from?!

So you are not missing any chickens, but you found a pile of feathers?

You might check the chickens to see if any have lost some feathers. A hen can have a surprising amount of feathers, so she can lose a lot and still not look naked.

Something similar happened to me once: I saw a fox chasing a hen, and chased it off before it could actually kill her. There were several giant piles of feathers in the yard, but the hen only had a small bare spot. I knew they all came from her because of the color, but I had not idea she could lose so many feathers and barely show it!

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

Is your run covered? That kinda looks like might be an large owl or raptor this time.

Yeah it’s covered. I don’t think it’s from one of my hens though. They were all locked inside the run and as I mentioned before, none were missing. Occasionally a hen escapes, but they aren’t able to get back in. This was also a distance from my coop/run area.

 

[cmom]

Time to put up a camera and see what's going on. I love my cameras. Good luck...

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Okay. Around a 1-2 months ago, something got into one of my chicken coops and stole all my silkies (10 birds)- they vanished without a trace (besides some feathers). The next day I found three wandering around in my yard, unscathed. I immediately went and posted a thread, in which people thought somebody stole my chickens and dropped off three because they felt bad. I wasn’t so sure. A few weeks later, same thing. Something stole an Easter egger hen and 6 silkie roosters. I went back to the thread, they thought a person had come back for round two. Then, about a week ago, I caught a fox attempting to steal another Easter egger hen! I got her back, and she’s continuing to recover. I set a fox trap, plopped my huge dog out by the chicken coop, and thought all was well. HOWEVER, today I went out to collect eggs, and found a giant pile of feathers- I think from a silkie. The three girls I have left are all perfectly fine and the coop seemed unbothered. Where did this huge pile of feathers come from?!

Can you put some game cameras out at different angles around coop and run?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Yeah it’s covered. I don’t think it’s from one of my hens though. They were all locked inside the run and as I mentioned before, none were missing. Occasionally a hen escapes, but they aren’t able to get back in. This was also a distance from my coop/run area.

Could it have been one that went missing before? Maybe search that area for others?

 

[Chickeroonie keeper]

Could it have been one that went missing before? Maybe search that area for others?

That’s what I was thinking, but they were missing for a long while before this