RenoHuskerDu
Songster
Come time to roost the chickens for the night, one did not show up. Our rooster is not terribly diligent. We went looking in the gathering darkness and found her under a building, where the chickens like to hang out to escape heat or rain. She'd been killed, and the predator only ate her head and part of a breast.
Locals tell me it's not a canine predator. We have coyotes and foxes around, as we're fully in the country, but they would surely not have dropped the bird. They would have carried it off in their mouth.
I doubt this was a bird of prey because they would have a dickens of a time getting under that building. I've closed off two sides with sandbags due to all the heavy rains Pocahontas sent to Texas. There are no feral cats around here. I would shoot them and the neighbors feel the same way.
I saw this list (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-worst-predator.261440/) but we have few of those around. We have cougars but they are rare and only move around at night. Here in Central Texas, that leaves raccoons and possums. Locals say that raccoons are more likely to kill several chickens, so they suspect that a possum got us. They think a possum, being pretty stupid, would just eat some and spook away when we made noise nearby.
This particular chicken was the most trusting of the flock. You could just walk right up and pick her up. Same with our dogs, she would let them nose her without squawking. I suspect that her gentle nature was her downfall, and a predator was able to creep right up to her. This supports the possum theory.
What do y'all think? We're pretty sad, as it's the first chicken we've lost to a predator, and she was a good layer. I've taken to sitting out near the coop late afternoon to dusk with a rifle, hoping to knock off the predator. If it's a coon, they're smart and he'll be back.
Locals tell me it's not a canine predator. We have coyotes and foxes around, as we're fully in the country, but they would surely not have dropped the bird. They would have carried it off in their mouth.
I doubt this was a bird of prey because they would have a dickens of a time getting under that building. I've closed off two sides with sandbags due to all the heavy rains Pocahontas sent to Texas. There are no feral cats around here. I would shoot them and the neighbors feel the same way.
I saw this list (https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-worst-predator.261440/) but we have few of those around. We have cougars but they are rare and only move around at night. Here in Central Texas, that leaves raccoons and possums. Locals say that raccoons are more likely to kill several chickens, so they suspect that a possum got us. They think a possum, being pretty stupid, would just eat some and spook away when we made noise nearby.
This particular chicken was the most trusting of the flock. You could just walk right up and pick her up. Same with our dogs, she would let them nose her without squawking. I suspect that her gentle nature was her downfall, and a predator was able to creep right up to her. This supports the possum theory.
What do y'all think? We're pretty sad, as it's the first chicken we've lost to a predator, and she was a good layer. I've taken to sitting out near the coop late afternoon to dusk with a rifle, hoping to knock off the predator. If it's a coon, they're smart and he'll be back.
