The thread noone wants to start

[cntrywmnkw]

So sorry to hear about your loss. That really sounds like a dog attack. That's what happened to my Black Star, she had all the feathers on her back picked out & a big chunk of meat gone, then went after my Silver Laced Wyandotte, but I shot at them with my 7mm-08 & I just missed, but was close enough to make them drop her. As was said before, they'll be back, now that they have the taste. Find out what your legal rights are where you live about loose dogs on your property & contacting the owners for any damage they do.

 

[Coralietg]

I'm so sorry for your losses

I just want to second/third/fourth, be on the look-out. We had a horrible problem with a neighbours dogs killing out chickens. She said they weren't her dogs, they were strays. Yet she fed them every morning and they slept under her carport. The dogs would come back time and time again, it was very upsetting.

 

[foxrfarm]

I, too, am sorry for your losses, and can totally relate. I just lost one of my broilers today to a red tailed hawk. I just stepped outside and saw the hawk eating the carnage and it flew off. The head was simply bit off. I watched my tree line to see the hawk watching me and waiting for me to leave. I took the dead bird out of the yard and put it in the barn, thinking that would help the hawk lose interest. I have a fenced outdoor space for my birds adjacent to my barn - so they have access to the barn at all times, but I'm thinking about providing some other cover for them. My rooster isn't old enough to offer any protection.

I also lost one of my laying hens to a neighbor dog (a dachsund, actually). Interestingly, they never offerred to pay anything to replace her. I really think that people who have never had chickens, don't understand the cost and attachment associated with them! My other 7 hens grieved for several days - telling me over and over again, what happened! No doubt, they were very distressed.

I hope you are able to get to the bottom of your kill. It might provide some closure and allow you to try to prevent it from ever happening again!

 

[2DogsFarm]

Turns out the predator was a red fox.
I've been keeping the survivors penned and last Saturday while I was working in my barn I heard the hens squawking - looked out to see the fox staring into the fenced henyard. If he was a bird dog he would have won a prize...

So now the hens will stay in their yard - better for them to have less space than to feed the fox.

Fur-bearing season opens in January or February here.
Neighbor kid shhots so I may ask him to look for fox then.