Who did it?

[Bp10244]

So a little backstory: we bought a TSC coop (worst decision ever) that decided it would warp each time it rained. Eventually it fell apart, but we fixed it enough. We were planning on building the new coop that TSC gave us in replacement the following day, but of course we were a little late. Our barred rock pullet, about 6 months, was completely gone, with the exception of some feathers. Any ideas of what it could be? I’m in north Georgia. We have raccoons, groundhogs, and the rest of the normal predators.

 

[imnukensc]

I have no idea what took your chicken, but I can tell you with 100% certainty it wasn't a groundhog.

 

[Bp10244]

I have no idea what took your chicken, but I can tell you with 100% certainty it wasn't a groundhog.

I didn’t think so but I thought I’d give some options because I have no idea what did it lol

 

[Trux]

It is gone which is really all you need to know. You have chicken eaters around so you need to predator proof everything you build for your flock. Only thing those prefabs are good for IMO is as a brooder or grow out before you put them in the main coop, and then I would keep it in a predator proof run of some sort. Sorry you lost your barred rock, they are one of my favorite breeds I have 4 3 barred and 1 silver penciled.

 

[Kessel23]

I think it was a fox or coyote. It might have been a raccoon too, if it was a coon it should be easy to find the body, it should not have been dragged to far, just follow the feathers, look for out of place little clumps of feathers, coons like to hide their kills under stuff.

Last winter my favorite hen got killed by a raccoon, when I cam outside I found this in front of my coop on the driveway

It was pretty clear a bird was killed last night, these are definitely not molted feathers.
I walked around the coop to see if I could find any more feathers, I found this on the other side of the coop near the woods.

3 feathers stuck to a stick does not seem very weird but if you think about it, why would a chicken ever drop 3 feathers in the exact same spot?
A few feet from this I found more feathers,

and then more

And this trail led me to my other chicken coop which is lifted off the ground, under that coop was the body.

If it was a raccoon you should be able to find the bodies if you look around close enough. If it was a fox or coyote you will probably never find them

 

[Kessel23]

I have no idea what took your chicken, but I can tell you with 100% certainty it wasn't a groundhog.

jk

 

[Bp10244]

I’ll look around, thank y’all!!

 

[True Patriot]

In North Georgia the list is long. Highest on the list would be, fox, raccoon, and dog. Regardless of the attacker in this circumstance, some defensive measures need to be taken. I have three layers of "defense", coop, run, and yard. My personal strategy is start with the coop. This is where they sleep and are at their most vulnerable. The stronger and safer you make the coop the better "you" will sleep at night. My example of how I built.

Then move on to the run. This to me is a safe area for them to be without supervision. As fully enclosed as you can make it, and as strong as budget allows. My run

Last defense is the"yard". I have an area fenced off for them to roam in. To prevent my dogs from having chicken for lunch. It could be the whole backyard or property in some cases. In other cases in may not need necessary at all. Largely depends on your style of chicken wrangling. Mine is 4' welded wire fence with bird netting extending to 10'. I understand that this won't stop a determined predator, they are only out when we are home to supervise. It does provide protection against grab and run attack also being 10' some fly by protection.

The expenses can be broken down into stages. So can the building. Look into the coop and run design section, there are lots of good ideas there. The hoop coop designs are very functional and easy to build. The best way to stop a predator from attacking is to prevent them from getting close enough. The layered idea keeps maximum distance and gives me the most peace of mind.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Head ripped off leads me to believe a Coyote. The other concern i have is that TSC is swapping you for a new coop. I have never seen a coop inside of TSC that I would trust. Unless they have some new ones I would try to get a refund and get something better. The money you will have to put into a TSC coop to make it predator proof will cost almost as much as building your own from scratch.

 

[Bp10244]

Couldn’t get a refund so it’s temporary but we’ve reinforced it a lot so I don’t see anything getting in now

Head ripped off leads me to believe a Coyote. The other concern i have is that TSC is swapping you for a new coop. I have never seen a coop inside of TSC that I would trust. Unless they have some new ones I would try to get a refund and get something better. The money you will have to put into a TSC coop to make it predator proof will cost almost as much as building your own from scratch.

uldnt