Osmosis Mom Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Big tears as they were well loved. Question is who did it and how? No sign of an intruder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tearose Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Has it been very hot in your area? Where I live, some animals get desperate when there's extreme heat--and I know a lot of people who have recently lost chickens to raccoons and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I'm pretty sure I lost a couple to plain old heat. Snake? Coons and possums can get in almost anywhere. What are the gory details? Sometimes that will tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Did they kill and leave the body? Or are they simply gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 :grouphug: That's terrible! Did they have any injuries, or could it have just been heat stroke? So far we haven't lost any, but we are keeping an extra close eye on them because of the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dzingirl Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Coyote? I heard some howling last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 We found feathers everywhere and one had the chest open and was part-eaten. No blood on walls or anything, no obvious sign or entering or exiting which leads me to thinking it could be a snake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Weasel? Don't they eat chickens? Sorry about your loss. :( Around here (not my place but at my neighbors where I buy eggs) it's the heat that's killing them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 We have plenty of different animals that can eat chickens but I don't see any entrance or exit. The shed looks fine and there are five chickens left. In the past week, we have found eggs eaten. Not sure if that is related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0022.html There's an article with some hints on what a few different types of predators will do. It may give you an idea about what is going on. I hope you figure it out before losing any more. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 it doesn't sound like a snake wound.... chickens are way too big for most snakes. pythons would need to get to 6-8 feet before they thought an adult chicken was a good idea. when snakes get into our coop (usually 4 foot gopher snakes), what they want are the eggs. we've had them eat several, and then be too large to fit thru the chicken wire to get back out again. here, when there are bodies left, it is usually the bobcats. when weather gets wonky, so do they..... they kill so they know they have a food supply, and then only eat some. coyotes tend to drag them off more often, although we had two times the pack just played in the chicken enclosure and it was carnage. wandering dogs will play, too. wish i didn't know quite as much about this as i do :( ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Doesn't sound like a snake to me either - they would not open the chest. I would guess racoons. They are smart and sneaky, and will kill more than they could possibly eat just to be spiteful. Okay, maybe not to be spiteful, but it feels that way when it is your animals they kill. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 In my area, raccoons are the predator that will kill a chicken, perhaps eat its head or just slit its throat, and leave the rest. The dog attacks we have seen were more about killing the chickens to stop them from running around, but no eating the corpses. The coyote and fox attacks usually involved the disappearance of everything but a few feathers (and could happen in broad daylight or under cover of darkness). I think they were taking the carcass home to feed pups/kits. We let our chickens free range during the day but lock them up in a coop at night. We also have used tent stakes and a staple gun to secure a chickenwire "skirt" around the ground at the bottom of each coop to deter predators that would dig their way in. So far, no problems with the coops, just during the day when they are out. Another odd, and somewhat disgusting factoid - the smell of human urine, especially male urine, seems to deter our predator population. So when we are having problems, dd and I will keep plying dh with large glasses of ice water and iced tea and then encourage him to "mark our territory" around the coops and main yard area where the chickens roam.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Not a snake. They don't chew. (The stinkers do eat eggs and make the chickens pretty unhappy.) What's your enclosure like? I lost two chickens one year to a possum, and they will eat eggs as well. After that I wired the coop good, and I've not had anything get into that locked coop except long thin snakes and mice. With eggs gone and birds dead (with feathers scattered) my money is on fox or raccoon. You would probably have smelled a skunk. Both fox and raccoons are pretty sneaky, and fox in particular have a habit of killing more than they can eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 .............. Another odd, and somewhat disgusting factoid - the smell of human urine, especially male urine, seems to deter our predator population. So when we are having problems, dd and I will keep plying dh with large glasses of ice water and iced tea and then encourage him to "mark our territory" around the coops and main yard area where the chickens roam.:tongue_smilie: My grandmother was raised in the country. She and her sisters were encouraged to use the garden for a bathroom unless they needed to use the outhouse. The smell of urine kept deer from eating the garden. They figured they washed the food before eating it anyway, so no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 That has raccoon written all over it--they like organs, which is why they often take heads and/or open up a body cavity. They also enjoy eggs. He/she will be back to tonight, now that they've found an easy source of tasty food. It's probably a female (she probably is feeding little ones who, while old enough to survive on their own at this point, are probably about 7-8 weeks old and a tad demanding). Check your coop very, very carefully. They are smart and can get in places you wouldn't expect. They will dig under and can fit thru surprisingly small spaces. Do you have a live/'hav-a-heart' trap? Set it tonight. I've successfully uses eggs, parts of chickens they've left behind :/, bread and jelly, and cat food. If you've been noticing eaten eggs, they've been coming around snacking for awhile. Now they're really comfortable and have taken it to the next level--but this means they'll be easier to trap. If you trap and release, make sure you take the raccoon at least 7 - 10 miles away. They are territorial animals and will travel long distances to come home! Alternately, you may want to stage a 'stakeout,' if you are so in inclined. That's the sure (and, IMHO, the most humane way to deal with the issue. Good luck! Sorry to hear about your chickens. :( it is awful to find them that way. And please forgive what is likely a typo-ridden and disjointed post. I'm iPhone typing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Check your door. We had a fox figure out how to open both of our coop doors. The one that lifted up closed behind him both directions so it looked like no one had been able to get in (except for feathers and dead chickens). I suspect a coon could do the same. We've had to put harder locks on our doors as well as shoring up the fencing around it. So far, it's working, but I'd still like to get the fox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Yep, that sounds like a raccoon. My mom had one that would climb the fence, eat and exit. They are slick like that. When I built my coop we put chicken fencing across the top of the enclosure and zip tied it to the fence walls so the raccoon couldn't enter over the top. It was cheap and effective. It kept the big birds out, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 I now think it must have been rats. Yucky as that sounds. Dh now told me that last night he saw two small animals scurrying away as he got near the back yard in the evening. That also fits with eaten eggs and no apparent way of entrance. I set up a bo with poison and we'll have the chickens sleep in the h garage tonight. Hope it is a problem we can conquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildcat Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 (edited) . Edited January 6, 2023 by Wildcat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Big tears as they were well loved. Question is who did it and how? No sign of an intruder. Check if something dug under the chicken fence or coop and waited for the chicken to march out. This is what happened to us once. One feels so helpless and...sick for not protecting them better. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osmosis Mom Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 We have the chickens in a nice, newer shed and they have been free ranging except for occasionally when we put them in a run attached to the shed. The carnage happened at night which is why I am very hesitant about putting them back there. Of course the rats could also get into the garage where they are sleeping right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 A friend had a chicken pulled right through the fence in their coop which was just a bit wider than chicken wire (probably about 1.5 in squares). The chicken was most likely sitting on the roost closest to the fencing that they had just removed cardboard from so it would be cooler. All that was left were feathers outside the coop. She immediately suspected a raccoon because the critter would have had to climb up and then get the chicken out of the fencing. So sad! We have yet to lose a chicken and I am dreading it happening though ours are in a pretty solid coop at night...they do free range in our fenced in backyard during the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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