What killed my chicken, and how do I prevent it from getting another one?

[imq707s]

I have 7 chickens that I keep in a big coop at night, but let out during the day when I'm at work. They are free to roam the 1/2 acre pen that the coop is in while I'm at work. The pen is fenced it with 8-foot woven wire high fence. A small predator like a fox might be able to make it through the small squares of the woven wire, but I doubt anything bigger could make it through.

Long story short...I got back from work today and went to the chicken coop to put them up, and noticed that I could only see 6 of them up in the roost. I walked around the area and found my smallest chicken, a silkie, dead in the field. It's head was gone, entrails pulled out, and pretty much hollowed out in the chest area. Everything else was intact. All of the feathers were on it except for the chest area that was eaten out. It was only about 20 feet from the coop.

Any idea as to what did this? Bird? 4-legged predator?

Also, is there any way to prevent this from happening again besides keeping them in the coop all day?

 

[glochis]

I lost chickens a couple of years ago to a raccoon and they were the same way, head and insides gone. So sad to come out to in the morning and I felt so badly for the hens. They were inside a fenced pen in a coop, but they were not locked in the coop.

 

[nbenevento]

Yep, sounds like a raccoon. Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is make your pen more secure. Sounds like it would be expensive but that is what would need done to stop all possible attacks. For now though, go get some traps and kill any predators that come around. There are "hand traps" that will pretty much only catch raccoons. They are dog safe too. Get some sardines or something like that and start eliminating the threats. Once they have found a meal, they will be back.

 

[Deerling]

It sounds like a raccoon. We lost one the same way in the early evening. I really like this chart for trying to ID predators: http://www.freewebs.com/professorchickenspredators/ Sorry you lost a chicken I would think that reinforcing the fence with hardware cloth, which is much smaller, would be your first step. Perhaps also covering the run and making sure nothing can dig under.

 

[ladysif]

Have a similar situation - free range chickens during the day. They are put in compound at night. Compound is about 20x20 chicken fencing buried and anchored in ground, hen house and bird netting over the entire compound. Access door to coop is in the floor of the house (it is about 2 ft off the ground) - generally leave it open at night - haven't had any issues since erecting it last spring. But Tuesday morning found compound swimming in feathers and a small pile of guts and feathers outside of gate - looked like chicken caught on gate being pulled under. Blocked bottom of gate and shut hutch door at night - Wednesday another chicken disappears. Now two more today. I'm not at home but my husband filled me in this morning.
The only sizable opening is under the eaves - about 8-9 ft in the air and that's only about 3 inches wide. The netting is attached to the top of the fence - excepted at the gate but it comes down over the gate. Husband thinks it might have pulled down the hatch enough to get in. I'm perplexed. He's going to cover the eaves with some gutter screen and it contemplating electrifying the fencing at night.

 

[imq707s]

Well, I've been keeping the chickens in the coop all the time except when I'm home from work.....and I've got a live trap out next to the coop. So far it's almost been a week, and I've not caught a single thing in the live trap (baited with sardines).

How long before I should just assume that it was killed by a hawk or some other large bird?

 

[keirys]

Duke dog proof trap is my best friend...I have caught 10 raccoon's so far

 

[nbenevento]

Duke dog proof trap is my best friend...I have caught 10 raccoon's so far

I use these traps too and I get one every single night I set them.