what could it be?

[StickyChicky]

Well, I've been reading your posts - so sorry to hear about your losses. We lost one chick last night. Thought they were all in the coop safe and sound, but this morning one was missing. So it never got into the coop at all. It must have been taken late afternoon / early evening as the last time we counted all the chicks was about at 4pm. Anyway, thought it was a total goner, but my son just found a carcass... which really surprised me - these chicks are just under a month old, and are still very small. I'd figure a predator would eat the whole thing.

The only thing left is the spine, some fluff, the beak, and a part of the skull. Legs are gone, along with the guts and most of the body. This sounds like your description early on. Do you think it could be a skunk? If so, will they come back for the other chicks? We only have 10 with another hatch coming next week. They free range, and this is the first incident we've had at all... been here with chickens for over just over a year. There may be skunks in the area, but we've never seen any.

 

[Folly's place]

Your predator will be back for sure! I would confine the chicks while you set out live traps, etc. Some predators will come daily, some every few days, but protect your babies for a while. Mary

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Well, I've been reading your posts - so sorry to hear about your losses. We lost one chick last night. Thought they were all in the coop safe and sound, but this morning one was missing. So it never got into the coop at all. It must have been taken late afternoon / early evening as the last time we counted all the chicks was about at 4pm. Anyway, thought it was a total goner, but my son just found a carcass... which really surprised me - these chicks are just under a month old, and are still very small. I'd figure a predator would eat the whole thing.

The only thing left is the spine, some fluff, the beak, and a part of the skull. Legs are gone, along with the guts and most of the body. This sounds like your description early on. Do you think it could be a skunk? If so, will they come back for the other chicks? We only have 10 with another hatch coming next week. They free range, and this is the first incident we've had at all... been here with chickens for over just over a year. There may be skunks in the area, but we've never seen any.

I would set a trap and have a gun handy. You are likely to get a skunk, possum, or even a raccoon, could even be a feral cat. It usually take around 2 years for local wildlife to figure out that there is easy food around. To protect your flock you should set a trap probably weekly or biweekly.

We just lost one of our meat birds yesterday. We weren't sure what it was that killed it, it left it just outside the pen and ate a small portion of the midsection. Last night my flock was terribly flighty, and it didn't take an idiot to see that they were all looking up. Sure enough at morning feeding they bolted for the coop as I was feeding the cats, and a HUGE hawk (one of the biggest I've seen in this area) was flying low overhead. It landed on a branch, unfortunately I didn't have a gun on me, but his days are numbered for certain!

 

[norcalsteel]

Skunk count is at 4 dead. Couple of quiet nights in a row was nice.

 

[StickyChicky]

I would set a trap and have a gun handy. You are likely to get a skunk, possum, or even a raccoon, could even be a feral cat. It usually take around 2 years for local wildlife to figure out that there is easy food around. To protect your flock you should set a trap probably weekly or biweekly.

We just lost one of our meat birds yesterday. We weren't sure what it was that killed it, it left it just outside the pen and ate a small portion of the midsection. Last night my flock was terribly flighty, and it didn't take an idiot to see that they were all looking up. Sure enough at morning feeding they bolted for the coop as I was feeding the cats, and a HUGE hawk (one of the biggest I've seen in this area) was flying low overhead. It landed on a branch, unfortunately I didn't have a gun on me, but his days are numbered for certain!

Thanks for the advice! Sorry you lost one - I hear hawks are very sneaky...

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Thanks for the advice! Sorry you lost one - I hear hawks are very sneaky...

I'm just glad it was a CX and not one of my layers. I received 2 extra CX and 2 xtra rangers so it wasn't too much of a loss, other than the fact that he was only a few days from butcher!

Our first predator attack was the worst by far. 4 hens and my LB roo and of course one of the hens was my fav BOrp. We learned our lesson about locking up the coop with that one.