what is getting our chickens??

[stephnipper]

We have 3 month old chickens. They are in a wire fence. We have now two roosters that have gone missing. There are no feathers, no traces of them! There is no evidence of anything getting inside the fence. They are very close to our house. Could it be a hawk? One got missing while we were home,and we didn't hear a bit of noise. Any ideas what this predator is and what we can do about it?

 

[vickers685]

Do you have anything over the top ?

 

[horsesnchkns]

Something got my 14 wk old rooster today, too. Similar situation. They have a "house" to go in but left the door open overnight so they could go out in their enclosed yard early. Just a few feathers on the ground, no evidence of anything digging under their fence. No remains of the chicken anywhere. We are fairly certain it was a hawk....

 

[Big Bubba]

I would suspect a hawk if it was during daytime. Why not have a top?

If it was during the nighttime I'd think it was a fox. I don't know about possums or raccoons, but I know a fox takes his order to go.

 

[thomasboyle]

Sorry for your losses. I have lost chickens during the day to foxes and bobcat, with no sign of foul play, just missing birds. Raccoons can also be out during the day. I bought a trail cam so I could see what was going on while I was away, and that's how I found out exactly what was coming around. I just picked up a 2nd trail cam (its addicting to know what is lurking about) a top rated Browning model for under $100. Once you know what you are up against, you can begin to make a good defense.

 

[Blueberryfairy]

We had one hen taken by a hawk, but it left a pile of feathers in the yard. We have had a couple of hens go missing at night from the coop, and suspect a fox. We lost one whole flock of 18 birds in one night (our first, and we thought we had protected them adequately) to a raccoon or weasel. I would strongly suspect the fox in your case. We now have a small run with six foot chicken wire fencing. It used to have netting over the top as well; I'm debating whether I can afford to replace the netting, or whether I can leave it off. It was intended primarily to keep hawks off, but I think the enclosure is too small for a hawk to land and take off from comfortably, anyway. I'm not sure if it would work to keep raccoons out.

 

[stephnipper]

We figured it out. The roosters were able to fly up into the trees and roost. One came down and the other didn't. I am guessing something got him. We have netting over it now!