Who is the culprit?!

[alang]

 

[AllynTal]

I'm not sure if it was pulled apart or just pushed out in a perfect circle by the exiting offender and my huge chicken.
Anyone have experience using geese to protect flocks? My mother used them when we were young to guard ducks and said they were great. Less risk to 2 year old eyes than rooster.

Geese? Really? Some of the absolutely meanest birds I've come across were geese. I wouldn't let a toddler anywhere near geese.

At this point, identifying the culprit is secondary; the important thing is securing the coop. Live-trap whatever it is and dispatch it.

 

[Howard E]

First order of business to get this stopped would be to ID your predator (or predators.....there may be more than one type). I have had a situation going on in my barn, with something stealing cat food after hours. I pretty much suspected raccoon, but other options were possums, skunks and other stray cats. Barn is tight at ground level, so I pretty much knew it would have to be a climbing varmint, so that mostly eliminated skunks, but it was a skunk stealing stuff last time. Could not believe how small a crack that skunk was able to squeeze through.

Anyway, I finally setup a trail cam and got my answer the first night. A pair of bandits........big B and little B.



So at least now I would know what to do if Plan A does not work. Plan A will be to take up all cat food after hours and try to starve em out so they move on. If Plan A doesn't work and they keep coming back and and start tearing up stuff, then they will experience Plan B, which is to trap em and feed them to the buzzards. Buzzards gotta eat, same as the worms.

So if you have a trail cam, or know someone who does, you may want to try setting up a trail cam. You get to find out what it is hanging around and when. Once you know what it is, then you can set about dealing with them and there are lots of ways of doing that. Trail cams need not be expensive. The one I have is one someone gave me years ago at Christmas. I suspect it or a used one like it could be had off ebay for less than $50. Maybe less than $20.

BTW, that barn is no more than 100 feet or so away from my chicken house and the 15 birds that reside within. These same varmints check it out too, but I went to a great deal of effort to make it predator proof so they can't get in.....or at least haven't so far. So they moved on to the cat food they can get. So perhaps an even better first goal to saving the birds is to make the coop predator proof such that they would starve to death trying. Then if they keep coming back....offer them Plan B?

 

[AllynTal]

First order of business to get this stopped would be to ID your predator (or predators.......... So perhaps an even better first goal to saving the birds is to make the coop predator proof such that they would starve to death trying. ...?

Yes! Secure the coop first. While a person is dicking around with cat food and trail cams, whatever it is (or whatever they are) is visiting the buffet (buffet=the chicken coop). Predator identification can come after the coop is secure.

No matter what it turns out to be, I find that if I raccoon-proof the coop, I proof it against a whole list of predators that are below "raccoon" in the predator-capabilities list -- which is pretty much all of them except bears. (And honestly, if it's a bear, there's no mystery) Raccoons are particularly tricky because they can open/unlatch things, and they learn and pass that learned knowledge on.

 

[alang]

My updates:
Found more remains in area with lots of feces with berries in it. On neighbor's property line at step to abandoned shed. Her perfect head and feet were left intact with spine and a few tail feathers. Everything else including most feathers eaten. My dog chased my neighbors cat away again- I'm assuming this is far too big of a job for him and much too thorough cleaning of corpse.

Ken cove poultry netting ordered and coop temporarily surrounded with horse electric wire spaced 4" apart up to 4 feet high. Door latched but now I'm worried raccoon could figure out latch. Do people use locks and keys? Left barn lights on for night. Going to try to mow down tall grass behind coop tomorrow and extend sheep and horse pasture to surround coop as soon as possible.

Don't own trap or camera but will see if I can borrow some. What do I use to bait the trap?

Hoping I can manage to sleep tonight. Almost brought favorite chicken into house (second favorite was victim last night) but that seemed too morbid and unfair to other 15. Was a difficult conversation about death and heaven with my 3 year old daughter today when she wondered where her Buttercup was and why she could not just fly back.

 

[bobbi-j]

Your latest clues are leading me to lean more toward raccoon. Sounds like you're making good steps to secure your coop. Please tell me you're not going to relocate the thing if you trap it.

Your little one will adjust. Honestly, I think kids deal with death better than most adults. If you are able to approach it in a matter-of-fact manner, it will be less traumatic for her.

 

[Howard E]

Solutions you have initiated will help a lot.....mainly the electric fence. That changes everything as far as the varmints are concerned. Before, there was nothing. An electric fence (assuming it is installed correctly and is delivering a potent shock) takes all the fun out of it.

If you can open a latch with one hand, assume a raccoon can open it as well. A good option for a secure latch is a hasp latch with a snap on carabiner holding it shut. They won't figure that out.

 

[Intheswamp]

Interesting....left the head. Makes me think along the lines of a cat, but the berries in the feces throws me off if thinking of domestic cat...wild cats (bobs, lynx, etc) would eat berries, though. Raccoon makes more sense, but seems the head would be eaten by them. It will be interesting to find out what this was. I'm thinking coon, too, as it appears the pop door was manipulated some.

Good move on the electric fence. You mentioned "temporary"....I would definitely modify it to *permanent*!!!

Ed

 

[AllynTal]

...... Door latched but now I'm worried raccoon could figure out latch. Do people use locks and keys? .....

Sounds like you're making progress.

Raccoons have amazing dexterity. They can unlatch things, so something like a slide bolt, hook and eye, or a hasp is just a happy puzzle for them to figure out; and once one opens it, he passes that knowledge on. Some folks do use padlocks, but I feel comfortable using latches that have spring-loaded clips. Two-action latches are harder for them to figure out and manipulate with their little hands and latches that have a padlock hole in them can be secured with a snap hook.

Like these:
Spring-loaded hood and eye

Snap hook

If you decide to use padlocks, you can leave the key in the lock (raccoons don't seem to grasp the idea of holding the lock and turning the key) or you can leave the key on a string attached to the lock so it's right there handy.

 

[alang]

Thank you so much for latch recommendations. So far, my changes have deterred the attacker. My dog and husband both accidentally got zapped by the fence and it definitely works because my dog cannot be bribed in any way to go within 50 feet of coop and has been cowering since. The kencove fence line is already on order but the horse fence works so well I'm considering leaving it up also- the more the merrier.
Any thoughts on with what to bait a trap? And yes I was going to relocate whoever I catch to a large state forest with no homes or chickens within miles. At this juncture I'd feel to bad killing another animal. Should there be more death, my thoughts might harden.
Could this be the work of a large domestic tom cat? He was seen hanging out on top of the coop before this happened. I checked paw prints again against field journal and its someone with 5 toes so not a fox- raccoon, fisher cat, and cat would fit. Hair on wire was coarse, long brown/black...