I have (had) 3 male guineas (2 grays, 1 white) who roost in a big oak tree just outside the chicken coop for 1 1/2 yrs. This morning only one guinea is here and Gray feathers all over the ground, hanging on the coop fence and in the tree so whatever attacked them went into the tree. No white feathers around but neither is the white guinea. I would think a racoon but no body or partial bodies anywhere. Also thought maybe an owl but do they take the bird away? No evidence left behind except feathers??
I'm so sorry for your loss. As for the predator, I'm thinking an owl or hawk. Owls do take their prey away. I grew up finding gray squirrel tails in our hay loft along with a plethora of other prey remnants left by owls, albeit they don't waste much.
Owls and hawks will often swoop and swipe without leaving evidence. Ground predators such as foxes do also but they don't climb trees. Don't know about big cats, I've only had to deal with a few feral cats. Sorry about your loss.
Any climbing critter or night bird could have done this by simply walking up and attacking as birds are helpless at night when roosting. Probably need to lock them down and train them to sleep in the coop. Also look into why they might not want to be in the coop besides the trees being higher off the ground, such as too hot or ammonia fume build up inside the coop.
Ground predators such as foxes do also but they don't climb trees. Actually a fox can and will climb trees. Here are pictures: http://images.google.com/search?tbm...pl=1422l5203l0l14l12l0l3l0l1l875l1328l4-1.0.1
depending on your area it could be gray foxes, lynx, puma, and others most likely a gray fox though so sad
Thanks for the input! The white one showed up tonight in one of the chicken coops when I was collecting eggs. He has a slash on his neck but it doesn't look too bad. I thought racoons would partially eat it and leave the carcass somewhere nearby. No blood anywhere so I thought maybe an owl just took him off? I try to trap any coons tonight - hopefully not the barncats! I was given 6 adult guineas last year. I kept them in the coop for only 2 weeks and as soon as I let them out, the 3 females took off. The males stayed around but don't stay in the coops at night. I don't know why but I locked them both in there tonight. I have 5 guinea keets in there and a few just started making the female sound so maybe thats attracting them in there and I hope they'll stay in there and get used to it. I really like the guineas.
