What else?

[TJAnonymous]

It could have been a dog or a coyote. It will be back. Good luck...

Yes, I'm pretty certain it will be back. I lost quite a few birds last summer. On several occasions, I found a gray fox lurking around the back fenceline. By fall, I realized that it had kits. One evening in the fall, two of the kits were searching for food along the treeline. One of them came out to me and nearly came up to me. I'm pretty certain there is den close by on the neighbor's property. It is really overgrown with tall grass and scrub. The only thing is that this animal seemed much taller than those foxes I saw last year which makes me think it is a coyote.

DH told me this morning that a live trap will not work with a coyote. They are too smart. So I think MAYBE he is going to try to sit out there one morning and shoot it. Not sure....

ETA - we do have to be very careful about shooting it because there are homes really close by and we are in the city limits (technically). I shot at it with a .22 rifle from a direction that would not have threatened any homes but we still have to be incredibly careful.

 

[cmom]

Your DH is correct it is nearly impossible to live trap a coyote.

 

[cmom]

A fox.

 

[Byrd gal]

I would set up a camera if possible. It would help to know if its a dog or coyote. Either way its going to be a real pain to rid yourself of this chicken snatching jerk. I'm praying dog.

 

[cmom]

I got tired of loosing birds to predators so I fortified my coops and pens. Now I never shut the pop doors on the coops but I have electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering my pens and concrete under the gates all due to losses from predators in the past. So far nothing has gotten past the hot wires. I think the adult predators teach their young that a bird isn't worth getting zapped for. If anything touches wires and fence they will hurt for a couple of days. The fence is grounded. It may not be pretty but it works. I also have several game cameras up on my property. I love my cameras.

 

[Folly's place]

If at all possible, set up electric fencing for your chickens. And keep them all in their safe coop and safe run until this is resolved, or you will be loosing more until all are gone.
@Howard E , @cmom , and Premier1supplies.com are all excellent resources for electric fencing ideas.
Also, handling wounded birds from any land predator, canine or raccoon especially, should be done wearing gloves. Every time! If the predator has rabies, getting that fresh saliva on your hands is a rabies exposure. This is a very real risk!
If you actually can kill this exact predator, see about having it tested, and don't shoot it in the head.
I hope your hen isn't severely injured and can recover. Lucky you were there, good work!
Mary

 

[TJAnonymous]

Well, electrifying the fence around their coop is an easy fix. I can do that this weekend. However, covering the run is another problem that is not so easily fixed. My DH will not allow me to cover the run.

Maybe I should just clip wings to keep them from flying out? The fence around the run is 4 ft tall. If I clip their wings, would that keep them from jumping over the fence?

 

[cmom]

You could put some more wire around the top. Not sure why your DH is against covering your pen. Eventually the birds flight feathers will grow back. I have trees in my pens. I put the netting up in sections. I'm an old lady and didn't have any help and it was no easy task. I posted a picture in a post above and all of the pens are covered with the netting. Good luck...

 

[hennanny]

DH?
and yes you can get netting from amazon easy enough unless someone really is looking for it it'd be hard to see

 

[hennanny]

oh yea ..ammo is getting hard to find but look for "subsonic" 22's ..not much louder than a pellet gun and limited effective kill range 50 yrds max..good in a bolt action but turns a semi auto into a single shot