Without a trace.

[Micah DeRocher]

I had a fully grown Black copper maran come up missing. They were in my fully fenced yard at around 1:00pm. I couldn't find any sign of a struggle, not any feathers on the ground anywhere. She has never flown over the fence, she can barely flutter into the coop in the evenings. I live in a suburban neighborhood in central Alabama. The only birds of prey we have are Red-shouldered hawks, that weigh 1.5lbs at most, so there is no way one of those could have carried her of without a trace. I hate that she is gone because she was my best producer. Any ideas???

 

[sourland]

Sounds like a quick and large sort of predator. Coyote and bobcat come quickly to mind. Or perhaps even a human. Do the rest of your birds appear traumatized or fearful? I would be concerned that whatever it was will return.

 

[Micah DeRocher]

The other hens acted like nothing happened. I'd hate to think she was stolen but I guess it's a possibility. Maybe she was abducted by aliens...

 

[sourland]

One could only hope on the aliens. I've been told they never return .

 

[Kristen5894]

Same thing happened to us. It was a coyote. No sound, no feathers. Our neighbor saw him carry her off. I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[a704]

Yeah something big carried it away I would guess coyote

 

[Poticus]

I had a fully grown Black copper maran come up missing. They were in my fully fenced yard at around 1:00pm. I couldn't find any sign of a struggle, not any feathers on the ground anywhere. She has never flown over the fence, she can barely flutter into the coop in the evenings. I live in a suburban neighborhood in central Alabama. The only birds of prey we have are Red-shouldered hawks, that weigh 1.5lbs at most, so there is no way one of those could have carried her of without a trace. I hate that she is gone because she was my best producer. Any ideas???

How tall is your fence? It seems like a coyote would have had trouble scaling a fence. A bobcat could've done easily.

 

[Micah DeRocher]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I found her yesterday deep under a bush. She had been dead for some time. I couldn't see any obvious signs of trauma. I would have done a necropsy but she was too far gone at that point. I'm sad to lose her, she was my most productive and sweetest hen.

 

[jaylorm]

We lost one today too, we think it was a fox, so bummed.

 

[Micah DeRocher]

My sweet Jemimah.