we woke up to a chicken massacre. ANy ideas?

[SS]

In my opinion the best way to prevent something like this is, PREEMPTIVE STRIKE!!!!!

Start trapping and shooting anything that looks like it could hurt a chicken. That is what I am doing now and it is working pretty well.

 

[cluck-addict]

I know you guys are probably going to slam me..... but our one farm cat had kittens in the chicken coop. she rasied them and moved them out about a week ago. I can't help but wonder if she was protecting the chickens too.

She wouldn't even go in the coop today while we were cleaning up. Poor thing.

That said, everything except the cat and kittens are now on my personal HIT list.

 

[Davaroo]

Headless chickens massacred, but not dismembered or otherwise eaten? Small entrance opening? And you're in MN?

I'm betting a weasel, mink, otter or something along those lines. Second bet is a raccoon, although I'm guessing a distant second.

Either of these are some of the toughest preds to deal with. Clever and able to squeeze into and through some tiny spaces, they are both wily. Below ground wire mesh, cement footing edges, grade level planking and low electric wire are some of the better ways of coping with them.

Along with my personal favorites, traps and guns, of course...

 

[Judy]

Quote:
No reason for a slam, I hope. Many of us have learned lessons the hard way. I hope you made sure that one hole was the only one. Maybe your cat will help as a warning system for you now.

So sorry. I've lost chickens, too, even watched them taken. Not what any of us want.

Glad to hear you have a hit list! Won't solve the problem over the long term, of course. But it definitely is a needed approach, IMO.

I believe the headless thing is often a weasel, but you will know, someone has already linked the predator ID thread for you. Weasels can get in through pretty small openings. Glad they are not something we have to deal with here.

Davaroo knows what he is talking about.

Good luck! And go get 'em!

 

[Pepperhen]

We are so sorry too! Monday morning we woke to find 2 out of our five chicken friends had been eaten. We are pretty sure it was a coon. We were lax and we paid for it.

 

[Babe77]

I am so sorry that you had to go through that...

Geez, at this point I think I have decided to keeping the girls locked up in the workshop in the basement (similar to what I did with my daughter) until they are old and gray. We are working to move them into their New Coop tomorrow (5 weeks old) All I keep doing it walking in and around it thinking about what can and can not get in there. I don't know who is more scared, me or the girls!!

 

[jjthink]

Unfortunately for all of us, and our would-be social lives, locking up that late is also very high risk, unless the birds are contained in a run/coop system that is all pred proof. Note to self: do not come back as a chicken.
JJ

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
My thoughts too as I was reading. Time to get pro active.

 

[cluck-addict]

We made it through the night with no casualties.
YEAH!

Thanks everyone.

 

[Lollipop]

Courtney, it`s not unusual for predators to rest 1-3 days after a big meal. Please take your precautions today. They will be back and you`re running out of time. Hate to be an alarmist, but whatever you are dealing with kills for sport and may finish the job, given the opportunity......Pop