what predator?

[nursecat9]

Quote:
There were a couple of with puncture wounds, but most with not. I have never seen anything around our home except for a couple ground hogs and 2 skunks we took care of earlier in the year. I have free ranged our flock for 2 years without any problems.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
There were a couple of with puncture wounds, but most with not. I have never seen anything around our home except for a couple ground hogs and 2 skunks we took care of earlier in the year. I have free ranged our flock for 2 years without any problems.

If they were being free ranged AND the attack happened in the day time, with that many bodies and the lack of injuries - I'd almost guarantee it was a dog.

 

[nursecat9]

This happened during the night, and we did not hear anything...my husband doesn't want to think it's a dog....

 

[Tala]

Quote:
why not? with chickens, EVERYTHING is a potential predator. You can't just close your eyes and pretend it wasn't the neighbor's dog.
However if the attack happened at night, there are so many more predators that hunt at night. Weasel comes to my mind for that number of birds attacked at night.

 

[jwg423]

This happened to me a few weeks ago. My neighbors sometimes let their dogs roam out free at night, and we made the mistake of leaving a few of our birds that were being stubborn and wouldn't go in the coop out in the run, and woke up to 6 dead birds (not eaten, just bitten and dead with feathers all around) 1 missing and 2 injured.
At the time it didn't occur to me that the dogs were here, I did not know what had happened UNTIL the next morning while the birds were on free range I happened to look out the window and I seen the dogs out there one was trying to catch a bird and the other had one of them in his mouth and shaking it violently. He took my bird and ran through the weeds toward home, I never found my bird but I found my culprit. I called the neighbors and told them what had happened and asked them to keep their animals home. I haven't had a visitor to my coop since.
From what you have described I'm sure it was dog's because dog's will kill for sport, they will grab them and shake until it does not move anymore then the game is over with that bird so they move on to the next....

 

[nursecat9]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Our neighbor has a german shepherd who just so happens to not been out all day, which is very unusual for the family. Thinking maybe the battery in his shock collar died and he came over.....gonna send a little feeler text tomorrow, since they have small children. Don't want to lay blame, but maybe they'll fess up if they think we may suspect....

Again, thanks so much everyone!