What Attacked My Coop??

[llombardo]

Don't fox like duck eggs?

 

[Sakiza]

We looked at the cam footage this morning and there were three different raccoons and one fox. Traps are set tonight and the cam is also rolling. We’ll see what Santa brings us in the morning.

Thank God for my boyfriend who is more prepared to kill the raccoon after we catch it than I am. I’m just a sissy. Thankfully, he is as humane as I would be if I had to kill it.

I am hoping most of our duck and goose eggs will be in the barn in the morning

 

[Alaskan]

do remember that fox are bold and will kill your animals in broad daylight.

 

[peacockfarmer]

If I were you I would set up traps

10 bucks on racoon

 

[Alaskan]

Don't fox like duck eggs?

yes, they like all eggs

 

[1Bigloop]

If any of the birds are completely vanishing that would be your fox. Likely, that'd be a male taking them live back to the den for the female with pups.
I can tell you all about this first hand. We fought this endlessly last summer. In one day I had a young male make 3 attempts at the coop and our main barn where the girls like to hang out on hot days.
1st attempt in the morning he was sneaking up from the creek actually stalking a male Tom cat that I sent my dog to run off and she spooked the fox.
2nd attempt was coming from the alfalfa field from below and was going to try to come in from the doors where we couldn't see.
3rd attempt he blatantly walked right into the barn, snatched my orpington hen, and casually walked out. All directly across from the doors to the house. I opened the door yelled non-repeatable words, he dropped the bird, she went back in the barn unharmed and he ran around the back of the house while my son ran out the side with his 22. No more fox #1 of about 20.

Come to find out after my hens had been disappearing about 1/10 of a mile down our driveway across the creek was a den with a litter of 6 kits. Unfortunately, the males were stealing my hens to teach the kits how to hunt live prey. When we went down into the creek bed we found remains of coons, hens, pheasants and other small animals.
We fought foxes all summer and it was the worst year ever. I can only imagine this year.
Owls were horrible as well. Wiped out my coop of pullets, stacked to roosters on top of eachother. 1 Wyandotte got onto a high shelf and my older hens had got locked in the barn the night before.
So, sorry it got so long but if there are fox and birds vanish without a trace they'd be the cultprit. It also means that you likely have a den close by with kits. It's that time of year and kits sray with mom in the den for a very long time.

 

[Sakiza]

If any of the birds are completely vanishing that would be your fox. Likely, that'd be a male taking them live back to the den for the female with pups.
I can tell you all about this first hand. We fought this endlessly last summer. In one day I had a young male make 3 attempts at the coop and our main barn where the girls like to hang out on hot days.
1st attempt in the morning he was sneaking up from the creek actually stalking a male Tom cat that I sent my dog to run off and she spooked the fox.
2nd attempt was coming from the alfalfa field from below and was going to try to come in from the doors where we couldn't see.
3rd attempt he blatantly walked right into the barn, snatched my orpington hen, and casually walked out. All directly across from the doors to the house. I opened the door yelled non-repeatable words, he dropped the bird, she went back in the barn unharmed and he ran around the back of the house while my son ran out the side with his 22. No more fox #1 of about 20.

Come to find out after my hens had been disappearing about 1/10 of a mile down our driveway across the creek was a den with a litter of 6 kits. Unfortunately, the males were stealing my hens to teach the kits how to hunt live prey. When we went down into the creek bed we found remains of coons, hens, pheasants and other small animals.
We fought foxes all summer and it was the worst year ever. I can only imagine this year.
Owls were horrible as well. Wiped out my coop of pullets, stacked to roosters on top of eachother. 1 Wyandotte got onto a high shelf and my older hens had got locked in the barn the night before.
So, sorry it got so long but if there are fox and birds vanish without a trace they'd be the cultprit. It also means that you likely have a den close by with kits. It's that time of year and kits sray with mom in the den for a very long time.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is at least one fox den and a couple coyote den pretty close to where we are. We see them quite a bit. And we now have footage of the raccoons and fox lurking near the birds at night.

Our ducks, geese, guinea, and rooster free range until it gets cold and then they are in a 6ft tall fenced in acre with a small pond and a barn.

Our hens are in a coop (in the fence) so they are pretty safe.

I know we lost quite a few ducks without a trace this summer but not one goose! Even though we saw a coyote run at them in broad daylight. Those smart geese ran right in the pond and were safe.

I’m sorry you lost your hens to fox :/ It is an awful feeling to lose the birds you work so hard to raise and care for. They become your babies.

 

[1Bigloop]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there is at least one fox den and a couple coyote den pretty close to where we are. We see them quite a bit. And we now have footage of the raccoons and fox lurking near the birds at night.

Our ducks, geese, guinea, and rooster free range until it gets cold and then they are in a 6ft tall fenced in acre with a small pond and a barn.

Our hens are in a coop (in the fence) so they are pretty safe.

I know we lost quite a few ducks without a trace this summer but not one goose! Even though we saw a coyote run at them in broad daylight. Those smart geese ran right in the pond and were safe.

I’m sorry you lost your hens to fox :/ It is an awful feeling to lose the birds you work so hard to raise and care for. They become your babies.

 

[moniquem]

OMG, this is awful!

 

[Humpty Doo chicken family]

I’m from Tasmania and we have had lots of problems with snakes and Tasmanian devils... in my experience (no matter the type of predator) once they’ve gotten an easy meal they’ll be back. Trapping and releasing away from our property was our only solution and seemed to work well. Snakes are a little harder to deal with.

Now I live in the Northern Territory it’s snakes and birds of prey.... I’ve had adult chickens taken by pythons.... the snakes get BIG here. My only solution (killing snakes is highly illegal) has been to spend a ton of money replacing regular chicken mesh for snake proof mesh designed for reptile enclosures...