What strangled and tried to bury 29 chickens in one night?

[engineped]

Something got into our Salitan style coop and neatly strangled all 29 of our chicks. They're about 4 months old. About 10 are missing and the rest were left and "buried" with grass and dirt. Any ideas what would have done this? Coyotes? I killed a bobcat a month ago that had killed 4 of our older birds but it killed one at a time - usually one a day.

 

[mnferalkitty]

what state are you in? that info can help alot in i.d ing critters in your area

 

[Wrightsx4]

I would agree on the coyote - most other predators wouldn't bury. That's awful

 

[mnferalkitty]

Look at this and read the bobcat lynx paragraph http://icwdm.org/inspection/livestock.asp

 

[rebirdchild]

I apologize for the loss of your birds.RIP. It was most likely a fox or coyote that killed your chickens. When they get into a coop they leave little evidence, kill all of the birds, and take as many as they can. When they kill a bird they bite the neck, ripping off some of the feathers. They have also been known to stalk a chicken coop for weeks before they make a move. I have seen a fox recently close to our coop so definatly need to be careful! Also a good website to check out is: www.raising-chickens.org/chicken-predators.html

 

[engineped]

Thank you so much for the info. We hear a lot of coyotes nearby and the birds were a few hundred feet from our house. What a waste. Time to build a fort knox style chicken tractor.

 

[engineped]

what state are you in? that info can help alot in i.d ing critters in your area

We're in North Texas near Ft. Worth.

 

[mnferalkitty]

We're in North Texas near Ft. Worth.

According to that link I posted early, it said a female bobcat will cover/bury its kill.

 

[zazouse]

According to that link I posted early, it said a female bobcat will cover/bury its kill.

Theyu do and it made my job catching them alot easer when the time came and i had no choice.
But i have never know a bob to kill a entire flock