What took my hens?????!!!!!!

[Tesumph]

Thank you! I am leaning toward raptor or fox at this point. We will be building a real roof over the run now and I did set up 2 trail cams but they are aimed low so if it is a raptor I won’t see anything. I was hoping to get some idea of WHAT so I could be smarter about HOW. I sincerely doubt we have bobcats since this is a fairly suburban area.

Awesome, keep us updated. Hope your birds stay safe!

 

[Tesumph]

I don't think anyone has suggested that you kill or capture a hawk or owl. They are federally protected. I think, however, this is ridiculous. Hawks are not endangered. There were 3 large red tailed hawks on the power lines between my house and the main road, which is about 1/2 mile. There are Cooper's hawks and sparrow hawks and red tails in abundance around here. I don't believe anyone should start killing them for sport, but homeowners should be allowed to protect their livestock. I follow the law, but some laws have no reason for existing.

The reason is because of how difficult they are to identify on the wing.. a year ago someone in our neighborhood found a juvenile bald eagle that was shot down and then messed with, and then a month later another one, on the same horse trail. It was traced back to two teenagers who admitted to shooting them for fun but “thought they were vultures.” Not sure what kids think shooting down vultures and stomping them to death is fun, but whatever.
If you’re a farmer with a hawk problem, then you shoot, shovel, and shut up. But otherwise there is a good reason for the law in terms of conservation.

 

[jaimedes]

Update on the bird killer...
We have been putting the trail cams out and checking them every day (girls are in lockdown in the barn overnight and into the day until I get home) and we have seen nothing until around 4:30 this morning and we got some great pictures of... my neighbor’s cat??? It’s a fair sized calico who is spayed. She used to be feral but the neighbor lets her come and go and is feeding her. Her owner said she kills rabbits and wild birds. She was staring into the run where the last murder happened for 5 minutes and then looked into the trail cam (thinking it was the red lights that come on when it takes a pic) and then she turned and ran up my yard. I never suspected a cat... what do you guys think?

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

I guess it is possible, but I personally have never had a domestic cat bother chickens. Never even heard of it happening to anyone else. I would keep the cameras running.

 

[jaimedes]

I guess it is possible, but I personally have never had a domestic cat bother chickens. Never even heard of it happening to anyone else. I would keep the cameras running.

We are going to keep them on in case. I found it hard to believe too, although just yesterday she told me the cat does kill rabbits. If I see nothing else in about a week I’m going to play judge and jury and kitty is getting a conviction. I bought a live trap.

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

Cats like for their prey to put up a chase. A cat is the only other animal besides humans that kill for sport. There's no sport in a roosted hen. It's not starving, I assume, so probably not looking for food. I seriously doubt the cat's the killer. But keep coming with the updates, you've got my curiosity peaked.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

They were in a round sort of circle but not hollow in the center like a bullseye. Which was would hawks do it? Solid circular pattern or hollowed out like a bullseye? Our first thought was hawk since it seems it came through the top with some weight and only the smaller girls have been victims. But I’m open to all thoughts

A dollar against a doughnut that you have a hawk preying on your flock. Especially if the hens taken were young or bantams. It is not in a coons' nature to runaway with a meal but rather eat it on sight. Besides coons live in lose colonies and if a coon ran away with your hens the rest of the colony would demand their share of the kill.

 

[jaimedes]

Cats like for their prey to put up a chase. A cat is the only other animal besides humans that kill for sport. There's no sport in a roosted hen. It's not starving, I assume, so probably not looking for food. I seriously doubt the cat's the killer. But keep coming with the updates, you've got my curiosity peaked.

I appreciate what you’re saying but will clarify that my hens were not taken from inside their coop area or indoor pen. They were taken from the outdoor run. Not sure if that changes anything, but just wanted to put it out there. There were multiple feather piles so my girl did put up a fight. . Also it was my two smaller girls. Not Banty but one was an EE and one was a smaller than normal whiting’s. Maybe it doesn’t like things that lay blue eggs.

 

[jaimedes]

A dollar against a doughnut that you have a hawk preying on your flock. Especially if the hens taken were young or bantams. It is not in a coons' nature to runaway with a meal but rather eat it on sight. Besides coons live in lose colonies and if a coon ran away with your hens the rest of the colony would demand their share of the kill.

Not young or bantam but they were my two smaller girls. An EE and a dwarfed (some weird health issue when she was young) whiting’s true blue. My other 6 that remain are all full sized.

 

[Tesumph]

A cat is the only other animal besides humans that kill for sport.

Well that’s not true at all. That behavior has been seen in dogs, foxes, weasels, raccoons, orcas.. to name a few.
I agree that it is very unlikely to be the cat, although if it commonly takes down adult rabbits then it’s possible.