What killed my chicken?

[Karacuda]

Dont believe what you have read about coyotes hunting mostly at night. I have shot numerous ones during the day at my house. Last one was a month or so ago at 3 in the afternoon while I was down in our wooded area running a chainsaw.

Thank you!

 

[sandburRanch]

Coyotes are ever bit as smart as Santa . He knows when you're asleep and knows when you're awake . And their communication system is mostly nocturnal . They rest from about 10 AM - 3 PM in the winter but in summer months they are raising pups and get no rest . If you've raised kids you know what we're talken bout .

 

[colette04]

Hello,
Some kind of wild animal attacked and killed one of our 11 week old chickens in broad daylight yesterday. The chickens were hanging out in an open air pen next to our barn. We always practice caution and stay with the chickens when they are in the yard as they are young but I foolishly let my guard down and left them on their own only to come back to a pile of Buff Orpington feathers and a missing chicken. Needless to say, I feel terrible and really guilty. Here are some clues that might be helpful:

1) The attack happened in the afternoon
2) There was a pile of feathers and a beak left but no carcass and no blood.
3) There were no prints as the area is grassy
4) The other young chickens took refuge underneath the barn and had to be lured out after the attack
5) We live in Southern Oregon where there are coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, opossums, red tailed hawks, domestic dogs and one stray cat in our neighborhood (we have seen all of the animals listed in our neighborhood over the past few months)

From what I have read, coyotes mostly hunt at night. Raccoons and possums don't generally drag carcasses off and there would be a decent amount of blood. The neighbor's dog couldnt have broken into the pen without it being super obvious. The cat would likely have left the carcass or brought it to our porch as a trophy (it has done this with field mice). This leaves a fox or a hawk.

My instinct says that it was likely a hawk as we have seen two of them on our acreage just recently. But I don't know much about how and when a fox will attack.

Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

Thank you in advance!

RIP Sally..

I had a rhode island red attacked near some heavily bushed area. Hole in the neck and plucked feathers and some meat from the side. I set a trap and moved my ring camera from the front door to this side area. The camera skipped over the events but we caught a large raccoon. This was not the culprit, another one taken today near the same bushes with the same wounds, its a hawk It makes me so mad that I want to start hunting hawks lol......but they are protected wildlife.

 

[MomaYow]

Hello,
Some kind of wild animal attacked and killed one of our 11 week old chickens in broad daylight yesterday. The chickens were hanging out in an open air pen next to our barn. We always practice caution and stay with the chickens when they are in the yard as they are young but I foolishly let my guard down and left them on their own only to come back to a pile of Buff Orpington feathers and a missing chicken. Needless to say, I feel terrible and really guilty. Here are some clues that might be helpful:

1) The attack happened in the afternoon
2) There was a pile of feathers and a beak left but no carcass and no blood.
3) There were no prints as the area is grassy
4) The other young chickens took refuge underneath the barn and had to be lured out after the attack
5) We live in Southern Oregon where there are coyotes, foxes, skunks, raccoons, opossums, red tailed hawks, domestic dogs and one stray cat in our neighborhood (we have seen all of the animals listed in our neighborhood over the past few months)

From what I have read, coyotes mostly hunt at night. Raccoons and possums don't generally drag carcasses off and there would be a decent amount of blood. The neighbor's dog couldnt have broken into the pen without it being super obvious. The cat would likely have left the carcass or brought it to our porch as a trophy (it has done this with field mice). This leaves a fox or a hawk.

My instinct says that it was likely a hawk as we have seen two of them on our acreage just recently. But I don't know much about how and when a fox will attack.

Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

Thank you in advance!

RIP Sally..

A hawk would more than likely carried it off, and left nothing, as with an owl. It is usually only the great horned owl that will eat chickens. With your chickens only being 11 weeks old. A fox would have left nothing but feathers, they eat their food whole, even the bones. Feathers are harder to swallow, so they leave them. It probably would not have left the beak. It could have been a feral cat. They eat their kills. They will carry them off once they have secured the kill. They will not leave it for you or anyone else, as with a house cat. That is just not something they would gift to their human. I am sorry for your loss. With all do respect. Never ever let your chickens run around without being in a covered protected area. Whatever it was, it will be back. You should look into maybe getting an Australorp rooster, they will ward off hawks. They think they are crows, which are the natural enemy of a hawk. They will chase them off. I am not sure if there are crows out in Oregon or not? Nevertheless, they will not mess with an Australorp or take the chance. It is like a natural instinct. You could get some guineas, they will sound the alarm when danger in near or anything is out of order, and they are loud! A cat will kill and eat chickens that are young. Depending on the breed of chicken, of course. They usually don't mess with them when they are standard full-grown, not saying they will not try. If you have a good rooster, they will put up a fight to protect their laying hens. They will lay down their life to protect the flock. A domesticated dog will kill your chickens for fun. A wild dog on the other hand would probably kill it and carry it off or just eat it right there. It is possible for it to have been a possum/ opossum, whichever is preferred to call it. I actually had a feral cat get one of my chickens because she decided to escape the backyard fence. She ran for the tree line to lay her eggs every day for about 18 days straight! Then she would come back and act like she was inside the fence the whole time. Until one day she didn't come back and get inside the fence. I went looking for her. All that was left was feathers and her 18 eggs. Had it been a fox, Raccoon, Possum etc. It would have taken and eaten the eggs as well. She put up one heck of a fight. I found feathers almost 1/2 mile away in the woods. Where she ran like a bat out of Hawaii. I took care of the feral cat. She is no longer an issue for any of my babies or anyone else's.

 

[MomaYow]

Thank you! Unfortunately, our run is too large to use netting however they have a fully enclosed space just outside of the coop. I think we'll keep them in there until they are fully grown.

You can always attach netting with rows of it and attach it together with zip ties. I used chicken wire and ran 3 rows and attached with zip ties to connect it all together every couple of inches and then attached it to the sides of the run It was painstaking, however. It has kept anything and everything out. Well worth it.

 

[Birdsong 82]

If I found was feathers it reminds me of way too many experiences I have had. Foxes. The only thinIf I found was feathers it reminds me of way too many experiences I have had. Foxes.
Yes a coyote could be the culprit but I had those get my chickens I barely find any feathers. Whenever I find only feathers and absolutely no chicken at all I want to think fox or coyote
The ones I lost to a fox I was able to trace random feathers back and found fox hole. Now I have found fox dens. They are insanely smart and secretive. But that’s my experience
Because last year I went from 19 to 4. When was taken off by coy wolf because I saw it When it’s back for seconds. Other than that I was able to trace random feathers until I got to a fox hole where I could tail They were pulled right in. But sometimes their dens so far away you can’t follow feathers

 

[ChickensInNM]

Choosing to be proactive will lead to fewer deaths. Nets and tarps prevent aerial predators from diving and grabbing one. Once a predators killed one of your chickens it will hunt them the rest of its life .So will its young.

That's what my grandfather used to say about any kind of dog (tame or wild). He said once they got a taste of blood, they would keep coming back, and needed to be put down.

 

[ChickensInNM]

I had a rhode island red attacked near some heavily bushed area. Hole in the neck and plucked feathers and some meat from the side. I set a trap and moved my ring camera from the front door to this side area. The camera skipped over the events but we caught a large raccoon. This was not the culprit, another one taken today near the same bushes with the same wounds, its a hawk It makes me so mad that I want to start hunting hawks lol......but they are protected wildlife.

Does anyone know the reasoning behind most wild birds being protected?

 

[Geena]

Does anyone know the reasoning behind most wild birds being protected?

The original reason was that they were being over hunted. Raptors play an important roll in controlling the population of rodents.