What killed my chickens?

[nbelval]

Came home from work to have my hubby and kids tell me half of our flock is gone. Found evidence of one chicken that was attacked ( feathers at attack sight and a larger group of feathers further into the woods) no trace of the other 6. 6 were huddled up outside our door and 1 came home 3 hrs later unharmed. So 7 gone and 7 missing.
We walked the woods and the neighborhood and asked the neighbors to contact if they see any dead or alive. Just wondering if it was a hawk or fox. It was between 12:00-1:30pm that it happened.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Fox or coyote. A hawk would only kill one but the others will kill all of them and haul them off.

 

[KYTinpusher]

Fox or coyote. A hawk would only kill one but the others will kill all of them and haul them off.

I agree. A fox got one of my chickens a couple of weeks ago, almost got one last week, and was back again last night to try again. We heard it scream and then saw it leave. We think it got zapped by the electric fence.

We're going to try this when it comes back (and it will be back):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/677983/i-caught-my-fox-updated-now-with-the-video

 

[Shellz]

Fox. Exactly same thing happened to my flock last year. Good to know electric fence works. Lol!
I SO liked that video! Wish I'd done that before. No probs this year with my 2 dogs.

 

[nbelval]

So the others are definitely dead? My husband and kids didn't hear a thing. We were hoping the others were just scared off, but as it's dark now I don't have any hope that they will come home. I figured we'd find feathers of at least one other chicken (they were all different colors) but nothing! I imagine he'd come back for the rest then?

 

[KYTinpusher]

So the others are definitely dead? My husband and kids didn't hear a thing. We were hoping the others were just scared off, but as it's dark now I don't have any hope that they will come home. I figured we'd find feathers of at least one other chicken (they were all different colors) but nothing! I imagine he'd come back for the rest then?

They could be hiding in the trees and brush and may return home over the next few days, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[nbelval]

Thanks for the info everyone. It's just so sad. I'm not counting on anyone returning at this point. Why is it that it always seems to be the favorites that go first? All the cuddly ones are gone.

 

[Shellz]

So true. My fave from last year, was left dead for me to see. Seems foxes are always trying to find ways to pi** us off!

 

[nbelval]

Has anyone had issues with foxes getting through portable electrified poultry netting?
We really want the remaining chickens to be able to forage and need to find a way to do it safely. Will that be enough to deter a fox?

 

[Shellz]

Don't know for sure, but what I do know, my 2 dogs are doing a great job this season. 0 losses so far. I've had horrible fox probs in the past until I got dogs trained to stay off the road. Now they can guard & stay out of trouble. I've often seen them relaxing & all of a sudden bolt for the woods after something.