What's killing my chickens?

[CtlisencedArborist]

Possum it is!Very kind hearted of you not to ill it.The problem is that they are getting in!Dont let it happen!If there is a hole,if there is a tear if there is any kind of entry way fix it!If you have small gaps put plywood over them.If you can see lite in your coop,fix it.if you free range and are loosing your birds then your fighting a loosing battle to begin with.

 

[millefleur]

After 35 years raising chickens around every predator immaginable, I agree: it is a chicken owner's responsibility to imagine every way possible a predator can get the chicken, and then prevent that from happening by having the most secure hen house and yard possible.

In our neck of the woods a predator could be a weasel, badger, racoon, skunk, accipiter, or most likely, a neighborhood dog. Most will kill more than they can eat. I've had raccoons climb up 10 feet to chickens roosting in the rafters our barn, badgers pull chicks through 2x4 inch wire, weasels bite the bare spot under the wing and drink the blood like little vampires, skunks demolish a whole flock of half-grown pullets by beheading them in one evening, etc. Prevention is the name of the game.

 

[CtlisencedArborist]

MillyFluer,I like your style!

 

[LynnGrigg]

Quote:
Hi - I'm in Winston Salem, NC. We've had chickens in the past. (have a whole new flock now)We've had a Goshawk(caught in the act of hauling off a carcass) and I lost several chickens to beheading. I wondered about that too. I've had a couple of folks tell me that weasles are responsible for the beheadings. I'll take their word for it. I'm an advid nature watcher and I've never seen a weasle in the wild in my life but then again I've never seen a Bobcat on our other property in Virginia but our friends and family members have and I've at least heard one.- awful eerie sound! We definitely have a great horned owl here in Winston. I have seen and heard this guy. It won't surprise me to lose one of the chickens in the wee hours. I've heard also that possums will occasionally kill multiple birds and stack their bodies in a corner of the lot... and not eat them. Wierd!