three piles of feathers, no other clues....ideas

kmpaulick

In the Brooder
8 Years
Jan 12, 2012
19
2
24
MatSu, Alaska
This is my first post, first flock and first (triple) loss. Our girls have been free ranging during the day and returning to their coop at night with no problems. My question is essentially this: will a hawk carry away three large birds (17 wks old & BIG) in one morning? I should mention that two of the birds jumped a 7 foot moose fence (into the garden) to try to escape whatever got them and it did them no good so I figure it must have been another winged thing. However I keep reading that hawks tend to go after chicks --not three large birds. Any insight would be really appreciated.

Also, and I realize there are a lot of thoughts on the subject, but....keep them in a run or continue free range? We've got 10 rural acres that is mostly heavily treed.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
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Sounds like a fox. A fox will go up and over a regular fence. I've had two fox attacks, took seven, then nine in the next attack. I used to free range, got away with it for almost a year before the first attack. I found just what you described, piles of feathers and nothing else. I have just over seven acres, It got to the point i could not let the birds out unless I was out there babysitting them. I ended up buying four hundred foot of Premier's electrified poultry net. That took care of the problem. I let them out of the enclosure every now and again, but when I do, somebody is right there with them.
Jack.
 
Sounds like a snatch and run predator. Species that come to mind are fox, coyote, bobcat. Do you have bobcats in Alaska?
 
Thanks for responding! We do have fox in the area, but I've never heard of one that could jump a solid 7 foot fence. They usually dig underneath right? I checked the perimeter of the fence and didn't see sign of any disturbance at all around it, or tracks either. It seems that if something jumped/climbed over the fence it would have either eaten them on sight or would have had to drag them (both!) back up and over the fence. There was no blood and no signs that the birds did anything but spontaneously combust!
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I had been thinking that they might be alright to range in the garden during the days over the winter (instead of building them a run), I guess I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board. Thanks again for your input.
 
We have lynx, which are pretty similar to a bobcat. I haven't seen them, or rather sign of them.

When I found the first pile of feathers (outside of the garden), I too thought something must have came out of the woods and grabbed it. After finding the other feather piles in the garden (7 ft tall solid fence), now I'm not so sure. Each pile of feathers was neat -no blood or anything- and circular, with no signs of dragging or prints of any kind.

The left-over birds spent the afternoon hiding under the porch and are currently "locked up" in their coop....time to build a run I suppose.

Thanks for responding. I sure wish I knew for certain what I was dealing with!!
 
Are eagles a possibility? At a beagle club that I belong to, the fox did not hesitate jumping/climbing a 5'+ fence. Now that we have added a triple hot wire they stay out. Prredators are very adaptable - they must be in order to survive. Good luck at solving this mystery.
 
Eagles are definitely a possibility. I often see them eating whatever they've killed on the ground (figured I'd see a mess if it was an eagle), but it's certainly possible that they were picked up and brought back to a nest or elsewhere.

5' for a fox, eh? That's impressive! Yes, the fence didn't start out at 7 ft. It had to adapt (got taller) in order to survive too (to survive the moose)!
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it sounds like a cat of some type they just leave the feathers and nothing else sounds to me like a cougar probably a mother and it's cubs
 
An update! Went out to feed the remaining girls in their coop this morning and....one of the "piles of feathers" came shuffling out of the woods!!! She was half-bald and half-dead, but after spending the night in the woods alone she walked all the way home (I followed her feather trail -she was dragged a LONG way!). Obviously, my "flying predator theory" was wrong. She's got punctures that look like it could have been a lynx or a fox, and was dragged through deep forest. Saw some feathers from the other MIA birds too, but they never turned up.

"Biddy" the BO had some intense in-home medical care and is resting on some towels in a cardboard box....we'll see how she does. I can't believe she made it this far!

Thanks for all the ideas on alternate predators to look for! I wish I'd posted earlier and searched the woods right away yesterday.
 
Be on alert around the same time that you think the predator struck. They tend to be creatures of habit. Good luck at patching her up and protecting the rest.
 

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