What could have killed my chickens?

[K_EP-I]

some people are strange......did you have a 4 sale sign on her??? i have had my chickens for 2 yrs now and only one time a raccoon got my 4 week old silkie and my crested polish babies, but it was my fault..didnt have small hardware cloth on the door and the raccoon reached in and took them....blood was dripping down the door...since that fix i have not had a problem...my girls are very secure at night.....

No they were just in their run. My dad allowed them to look at them but never take them. He went to get her back later that day. People are strange. Hopefully there aren’t anymore problems. I fixed the run up. The pain is tough honestly.

 

[hayley3]

You see if I saw blood I would understand but there is no evidence of anything ever coming in or out with anything. My dead Orpington was on the ground with no blood, bites, or anything just feathers pulled from her back. But yeah I’m gonna cover every hole no matter how small it is.

I saw a fox grab my duck, which instantly killed her. There were no marks on her that I could see but she was killed regardless.

 

[K_EP-I]

Long ago we had rabbits. A fox entered by damaging the (not so strong) netting and left the coop withouth taking them out (probably alarmed). This was early mornings around sunrise. One rabbit had blood. The other rabbit didn’t seem harmed at all.

We are quit certain it must have been a fox because he/she left traces. The fox first tried to dig underneath the fence. We also knew from others there was a fox in the neighborhood.

Oh wow. Sorry about your rabbits. Yeah maybe I just had a case similar to yours. I just wish it didn’t happen :’(

 

[Soy Milano]

I would predator proof your run to prevent all of the above from killing them one night. Here is a good infographic with tips on how to do this - http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/tips-for-protecting-poultry-from-predators

 

[cmom]

Yeah I was prepared to lose one to a predator some day but I didn’t think it would be this soon. I’m looking into cameras and updating my coop and run. Even before all this happened. I’m for sure investing in the cameras though.

Most cameras take good daytime pictures but not are all equal for nighttime pictures. I have a couple of cameras that the subject has to be very close to the camera to get a decent picture, but most of my cameras take good nighttime pictures. Here most of the predators roam at night. YouTube has some great videos of different cameras so you can see the differences. Also the field of view. Most of my cameras are 120º. Many cameras are 90º field of view. Here is an example of two different cameras in the same spot.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/anyone-used-this-game-camera.1328145/post-21669773

 

[Nops1]

Hi so I’m not new to raising chickens. I’ve “raised” them when I was 5-9 and got some chicks at Tractor Supply Co last spring. I got Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds. They are all hens. But 2 days ago I went to go let them out of their run to free range and saw I only had 2 of my hens, both the Rhode Islands. I walked further into the coop and in the corner was one of my Orpingtons dead. Only her back feathers had been pulled/plucked off. No blood, no bite marks, no nothing, just back feathers gone and dead. I looked all over for my other Orpington but she is gone without a trace. No blood, no feathers, no nothing one again. Could it have been a person? Our door doesn’t have a lock and there is wood as flooring. Now I live in Delaware so we don’t have large prey or much prey to begin with. We have foxes, opossums, raccoons, and turkey vultures. But we have a roof over our run and coop so they weren’t taken. Anyone ever have something similar happen? My Rhode Islands don’t want to be in the coop anymore which worries me because I don’t know where else they would be safe and warm.

EDIT: I reread what I wrote and I meant the door is closed with a latch but it doesn’t have a lock or anything.

Possums are the culprits.

Hi so I’m not new to raising chickens. I’ve “raised” them when I was 5-9 and got some chicks at Tractor Supply Co last spring. I got Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds. They are all hens. But 2 days ago I went to go let them out of their run to free range and saw I only had 2 of my hens, both the Rhode Islands. I walked further into the coop and in the corner was one of my Orpingtons dead. Only her back feathers had been pulled/plucked off. No blood, no bite marks, no nothing, just back feathers gone and dead. I looked all over for my other Orpington but she is gone without a trace. No blood, no feathers, no nothing one again. Could it have been a person? Our door doesn’t have a lock and there is wood as flooring. Now I live in Delaware so we don’t have large prey or much prey to begin with. We have foxes, opossums, raccoons, and turkey vultures. But we have a roof over our run and coop so they weren’t taken. Anyone ever have something similar happen? My Rhode Islands don’t want to be in the coop anymore which worries me because I don’t know where else they would be safe and warm.

EDIT: I reread what I wrote and I meant the door is closed with a latch but it doesn’t have a lock or anything.

Possums are the Culprits.
I don't know why, but there seems to be a never ending supply of those things around here! I've exterminated more than 150 in the last Two Years.They will do just what you described.

 

[bpoage]

Hi so I’m not new to raising chickens. I’ve “raised” them when I was 5-9 and got some chicks at Tractor Supply Co last spring. I got Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds. They are all hens. But 2 days ago I went to go let them out of their run to free range and saw I only had 2 of my hens, both the Rhode Islands. I walked further into the coop and in the corner was one of my Orpingtons dead. Only her back feathers had been pulled/plucked off. No blood, no bite marks, no nothing, just back feathers gone and dead. I looked all over for my other Orpington but she is gone without a trace. No blood, no feathers, no nothing one again. Could it have been a person? Our door doesn’t have a lock and there is wood as flooring. Now I live in Delaware so we don’t have large prey or much prey to begin with. We have foxes, opossums, raccoons, and turkey vultures. But we have a roof over our run and coop so they weren’t taken. Anyone ever have something similar happen? My Rhode Islands don’t want to be in the coop anymore which worries me because I don’t know where else they would be safe and warm.

EDIT: I reread what I wrote and I meant the door is closed with a latch but it doesn’t have a lock or anything.

I had chickens about 10 years ago and something opened the chicken house door and got all of my chickens. I just got 5 more and live in a different State now . My new chicken house has a lock but is really hard to get locked . It has a handle that closes tight . So far I have not had any problems . I wanted to let my chickens free roam in the day but we have a lot of hawks up here and cannot do that .

 

[8CityChicks]

Likely a possum. I had one pulling the vent feathers from one of my birds on the roost, but heard her carrying on & went out & dispatched the problem. It was a baby possum who got through 2x4-inch hog wire (believe me it happened) . The bird was saved & is now in her retirement years. On the chance it was a raccoon, put more than one latch of different types on your run / house doors. That confuses them where with one they learn very quickly how to open it. I have 3 different latches on each on my run & house doors -so far no entries after 6 years

 

[Lori J]

The door was closed in the morning though? I don’t think they would remember to lock it back up? There is also a small patch of “mud” since it rained and no foot prints.

That’s very strange! Maybe there’s a hole somewhere we are a rat or racoon or something is getting in

 

[Kiki]

Yeah. I went to investigate today and fix up their run and look for holes and low and behold they were behind the coop. Somehow the wood curved leaving a opening and a tiny hole near the other end of the run. There was also more feathers behind the run so yeah.

Thanks for the update.
I'm glad you found the hole.