Something's killing my new hens (warning: a tad graphic)

[SurferchickinSB]

Hi! So.... Here in Iowa the main predators are red tailed hawks, great horned owls, coyotes, red fox, bobcats, raccoons, opossum, rat snakes, mink, weasels, and yes although rare we get wolves, Black bears, and mountain lions. Welcome to Iowa lol.

Lots of critters!

 

[IowaLez]

I'm so sorry for your losses! I'm not sure what it is, but I'm eager to help. Can you put up a game camera? I do not think its your cats. Whatever took your hen was bigger and stronger then your hen, especially to carry it up in the trees and leaving no signs of feathers (or your cat/hair). I believe also that these deaths are all connected. I do not think it was a raccoon or opossum.. I feel its something bigger like a bobcat especially to take your cat and hens and eat so much of them. Usually a raccoon will eat the croup and head, unless really hungry, opossums eat the intestines, etc. Have you found claw marks in the tree where your last hen was located? or droppings around?

I will add that I have never lived in Iowa and am not familiar with the predators, but that's why I'm also thinking bobcat because I have all the other predators in PA

No, we don't have any of those cats out on the prairie, at least not nowadays. I wasn't aware a 'coon could carry a hen up a tree.

I'm pretty situationally-aware about my environment - except right now I'm feeling stupid and guilty of not protecting my livestock, who depend on me. I was scanning animal tracks in the snow all winter. I have 2 deer going thru every day, an opossum, a large rabbit, and I heard that coyote, and two owls a few times at night. Smelled a skunk once or twice. Then I saw that track that could have been a 'coon, a first-time find.

There's 40 acres kitty corner from me planted to tallgrass prairie for pheasant hunting, it's loaded with them. Otherwise it's open fields in all directions for at least half a mile. I expect critters at dawn and dusk, not in mid-day or early afternoon! And no one has livestock for miles around me, with manure that attracts eagles when it's spread on the fields, or they tow a dead cow out into the middle of one to "get rid of it" that way. I had eagles over in far NE Iowa.

Took me a full month here to get used to the "normal" night sounds before I could sleep decently, every little thing woke me up.

 

[Willowspirit]

Whoever was there in the winter might not be the only predators needy enough to come to your property now.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Wow, this is a puzzle! I would think a predatory cat like a bobcat would not leave a picked-clean carcass, would it? Wouldn't it just crunch up the bones and eat them? Sorry if graphic, but on a smaller scale that is what my cats do with their prey.

I just cannot think of a predator that does this! But then I can't speak for 'possum and raccoons. We have them around here but have not had a problem with them. If anyone knows, I'd be interested to hear!

 

[IowaLez]

Hi! So.... Here in Iowa the main predators are red tailed hawks, great horned owls, coyotes, red fox, bobcats, raccoons, opossum, rat snakes, mink, weasels, and yes although rare we get wolves, Black bears, and mountain lions. Welcome to Iowa lol.

The main thing is this hen was killed in mid-day.

Maybe in the woodsy regions we have all those critters in Iowa, but not out here where it's nothing but corn and beans, and the creeks are mostly just glorified ditches in the fields. The closest creek is half a mile away. I could see that down by my daughter's home south of DSM, where the land is more like MO, though. There's only been 1 black bear up here in years (and was hit by a car and killed) that crossed the River from WI.

The cats react by instinct and crouch and run for cover when a large bird flies over - so far only crows. I had an 'eagle tree' in our backyard in NE IA, partially killed by fire with large open branches they'd perch on now and then, or they'd gather in freshly-manured fields in swarms, and of course, Decorah has the eagle nest and eagle cam. Went to see it in person once.

This appears to be another hard lesson being taught to me by the prairie. Everything is more difficult out here. The hard Winter was a fight for survival, the spring brought me flooding from trapped runoff. During construction last Fall it rained or stormed every time I was up here. Spring has been wet and Summer seemed to arrive yesterday, quite suddenly. Two days without wind is a real joy.

 

[IowaLez]

Whoever was there in the winter might not be the only predators needy enough to come to your property now.

Good point!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...grey-wolves-bobcats-mountain-lions/540977002/
Here's some current info from the end of last year.

 

[IowaLez]

I'm so sorry for your losses! I'm not sure what it is, but I'm eager to help. Can you put up a game camera? I do not think its your cats. Whatever took your hen was bigger and stronger then your hen, especially to carry it up in the trees and leaving no signs of feathers (or your cat/hair). I believe also that these deaths are all connected. I do not think it was a raccoon or opossum.. I feel its something bigger like a bobcat especially to take your cat and hens and eat so much of them. Usually a raccoon will eat the croup and head, unless really hungry, opossums eat the intestines, etc. Have you found claw marks in the tree where your last hen was located? or droppings around?

I will add that I have never lived in Iowa and am not familiar with the predators, but that's why I'm also thinking bobcat because I have all the other predators in PA

I did not see any, but I was a bit upset and shocked at the time, so I'll look again in the morning. It's getting to be higher grass and weeds all around the tree base, but I'll look more closely. Of course my footprints may have obliterated them because I had to get close to even see her up there. It was like out of the first Alien movie, in the silent space ship cargo bay when the guy feels something near him and looks up and sees his shipmate hanging above him, freshly evicerated, and you know you're "not in there alone". Obviously, we're not alone out here, now.

At first I thought maybe "Nasty Lisa", one of my cats killed the first hen, because she and Bart got really excited whenever the hens ruffled their feathers - having never seen chickens before they found it very exciting - and I could see this 'dream come true' look in her slanty eyes - a really big bird she could finally catch. But then the novelty wore off when she got hit in the face with a flapping wing. Lisa couldn't haul that hen up that tree in her dreams, tho, nor pick it clean as whistle, the carcass still all connected, intact.

I'm beginning to think it's a new visitor that's moved into the area, too, with young to feed, or needing more food because it has young.

 

[pennyJo1960]

The cat lost to coyote but the birds an owl probably but hardware cloth is the only thing strong enough tight enough weave to stop them

 

[CindyinSD]

You can weave nylon string over the top of your run. It doesn’t hold the snow too badly. It’s cheap. It works for me, and we have lots of raptors. If you have overhanging tree branches, this may not work. I used white string and I find it to be very visible even with snow on the ground.