We were thinking fox as we know we have some around. Of course, this tactic is easier said than done. You may be able to blame the hensâ bare backs on the roosterâs attention â heâs scratching feathers ⦠This happened in broad day light. Youâll find all the chickens still in the coop as a rule because coons have difficulty carrying them off. Many backyard chicken owners assume their chickens are molting when the birds lose their feathers, yet itâs wise to look at other reasons for feather loss as well. After a little searching we found a small pile of feathers about twenty feet from the coop. Iâm not sure I understand the question? Even if you think you have an Ameraucana, do check! Fowl Cholera Found 4 chickens dead spread around, 2 missing and one wounded. birds are the only animals that have wings and feathers. Yes, we were free ranging young chickens and caught a couple of our barn cats in the act! Bird appears to drop dead and is whole it's a weasel. I live in western NC, back in the mountains and there have been Bobcat, mountain lion, fox, wolves, coyote, bear, and all kinds of wildlife that usually stays up higher on the mountain. When prey is in short supply, weasels will often kill more than they and their kits can immediately eat. Where the animal was pounced on/grabbed/killed. Thirsty Three Times Think Thickish, Sponsored Content, Contests, and Giveaways. Most importantly, fence in your coop and run. Most likely a couple of dogs, but maybe a fox. The chicken will appear lethargic and have a crusty vent area. A hawk will only be able to take individuals, and usually leaves some feathers at the point of impact. It is to heavy so he kills it then leaves. There will be the kill pile. Or the left overs of a large canine that swallowed the rest of the animal whole, or a smaller animal carried its meal away for dinner. *sigh* I'm loosing my touch. I wouldnât put it past many domestic cats to take advantage of a young bird, if given the chance. These smart egg stealing masked burglars leave significant evidence of their presence. One dead bird mauled or ate from vent it's an opossum. Most of the feathers have been plucked out although a few looked snapped or chewed. Chickens found dead but not missing any parts are most commonly killed by dogs and sometimes cats. You must log in or register to reply here. For me, it was fox, several times, one chicken at a time. They donât usually eat the whole chicken, but only part, and many times itâs the head. Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures, Coop & Run - Design, Construction, & Maintenance, Thankful Thursday. Dogs usually kill birds by grabbing them and shaking them. other then hiding out there with a rifle, are there any solutions other then trapping? Molting is a natural process in the life of a chicken but it is not the only reason why your chickens are losing their feathers. However, because they arenât very big, they usually try to attack chicks. Usually a fox will leave a trail of feathers. They will take their pray and stick them up in a tree to eat later! I had the same happening. We find a pile of feathers, and a feather trail leading across the field, and more feathers on the other side of the fence. How To Tell What Killed Your Chickens. Here are six of the most common health issues chickens face: 1. Was the skunk the killer and would it have carried off over two dozen dead birds? If your chicken is simply missing, carried away with only a few feathers left as trace evidence, your detective work can be narrowed down to a few common predators. If you find bloodied bodies surrounded by scattered feathers, you were likely visited by one of them. We have discussed many times that chickens are bullying each other. The showed no sign or bites or anything else and we assume their necks were broken. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18670, *sigh* I'm loosing my touch. However, if they attack a chick or a full grown bird they usually leave feathers or wings behind because they canât get these parts down their throats. Can a Fox or Coyote jump the fence? Emergencies / Diseases / Injuries and Cures, Coop & Run - Design, Construction, & Maintenance, Thankful Thursday. Or visit our Learning Center for articles on How To Raise Chickens. Dogs,coons,mink, will kill more than just one. Other common causes of feather loss include feather pecking (flock mates are plucking out feathers) and external parasites (mites or lice, usually). No blood to be seen. If your chicken is losing her feathers, suspect molt first. Smaller chickens, such as bantams, can be abducted by hawks and owls. Are capable of climbing very well. Join BYC FREE here to see fewer ads, post questions, upload pics, & more! I discovered the dead chickens before it could take all of them. I had a flock of 30 and only two survived. Even if you think you have an Ameraucana, do check! We saw the hawk a few times around the coop. Look for feathers on a fence post near where you keep your chickens. If you haven't looked at chicken coop designs, chicken predators are a major reason to make sure that your birds are safe and your coop is built solidly. The feather are mainly the fluffy ones, very few primaries or tail feathers and between all of them I have found only one small fragment of breast bone, everything else, including the rings, is gone. Youâll notice a white oozy substance inside their crop (which is a space between their neck and body.) Thrush in chickens is very similar to thrush that babies get. If your chickens are eating feathers it means theyâre missing a key part of their diet. I lost my entire flock last week to a stray dog, and all that was left was a few dead chicks and piles of feathers. We have listed some of the most common predators below to make sure that you know why you need your coop built so sturdy. The best long-term solution for protecting your flock is preventing predators from getting to it. They are fast; I watched it happen twice; took about 5 seconds; I would have had to have gun in hand and cocked to do anything. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. 6 Common Chicken Health Problems. In an emergency, is it safe to eat the geese at my local park. These predators typically are able to kill⦠Owning chickens follows suit, and one of the main responsibilities of keeping them is protecting your flock from harm. Dogs: differs by breed, but most dogs kill lots of chickens, bite them open and leave the carcasses. You can eventually find the spot where the animal ate/buried the prey. âkill all the chickens and only take one away to eatâ That actually doesnât sound like a fox. Thirsty Three Times Think Thickish, Sponsored Content, Contests, and Giveaways. Several circular areas of feathers left and 4 birds with heads and necks eaten. It can be difficult to tell if backyard chickens are in molt, because many of them molt at different times and in different ways. In Part 2 of our Health and Well Being of the Chicken Flock series, we looked at some of the common causes of chickenâs disease, how to manage it, what to do when you suspect a sick chicken(s).We also overviewed some of the diseases that can affect various parts of chickens. The dead chickens had there necks broken. They'll will only devour the chicken's head and neck. If itâs a chick thatâs missing, the culprit may have been a snake, cat or even a rat. 1. Quote:Hawk cannot carry a whole adult chicken. Usually just some feathers. Bobcat: Takes what it needs and leaves. the chickens used to go in their pen without any problem until chickens started missing. If a chicken is missing a head it's normally a raccoon. If adult birds are missing but no other signs of disturbance exist, the predator probably is a dog, a coyote, a fox, a bobcat, a hawk, or an owl. Like dogs, weasels and their relations (ferrets, fishers, martens, mink, and so forth) also kill for sport. last night, a chicken was taken, no trace. Often, the condition in which you find your flock is an indicator of which predator is involved. The True Truth: How to tell an Easter Egger from an Ameraucana. I have two hens that ate all of my rhubarb leaves last year! Some poultry health problems can go virtually undetected for days or weeks on end, while others can kill chickens within a matter of hours. What bird this was, I can't tell, one other possibility is an owl of some sort. I am in England, so no raccoons! ... like blue birds as well as other things. We put out a game camera but never caught anything. Dogs usually get feathers scattered everywhere. I'll have to walk circles tomorrow and see what I find. Any comments on what may be doing this? The bond most of us form with our pets is strong and personal. I had a flock of 30 and only two survived. If you search further, you may find one or two more piles of feathers - kill is usually accompanied by downier feathers, catch by longer ones. A hawk can most certainly carry an adult chicken off - when we have hawks here we feed them live chickens and they do fly with them. the last one I lost ,2 days ago only feathers under the tree where they were roosting in. Suspect canine (fox, coyote, dog). These birds will kill only one or two of your flock at a time, saving the rest for later. The fox kills them and then drags one by one back. We can only do our best, but regardless of where you live there are predators, and there are general ways a chicken owner can prevent these predators from attack. When a bird stops moving, the dog loses interest â often to chase after another bird. It was a good opportunity to observe the differences between a raptor kill and that of a mammal like a Fox or Cat. Regarding hawks not being able to carry a full grown chicken.... We've lost many chickens this past year. Coyotes We also have red-tailed hawks, but I'm betting on the fox, I think. the ONLY space possible is bout an inch and half opening I ⦠(Warning: Hi-jacked by Em). Other signs are talon marks on the bird, loss of feathers on the ground from the bird of prey or wing impressions during the winter months in the snow by the chicken. Rhubarb leaves are also toxic to chickens. So their presence may help the chickens in another way â redirecting the predators to another food source. Have had chickens in same area for 5 years and only lost the occasional bird. An opossum usually only kills one chicken per visit. Iâve also had domestic cats eat my chickens. Lost another one yesterday, pile of feathers in the field, and a trail leading to the fence, and a trail leading up the mountain. You must log in or register to reply here. One of our chickens didn't come to the coop with the rest this evening. In an emergency, is it safe to eat the geese at my local park. I inspected the pile of Bronzewing feathers, and noticed (as I have done with the many raptor kills I've seen before) that the pile consisted of mostly smaller body feathers and a few larger ones from the wings and tail. Just a pile of feathers means a hawk most likely. Raccoon: wreaks havoc, usually banging and biting chickens necks, often kills numerous chickens and leaves the bodies lying around. Or visit our Learning Center for articles on How To Raise Chickens. Put out a live trap and caught a skunk. I found the remains ,wings & backbone of two .then the rooster would run all of the hens out of the pen at dusk. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Dogs kill for sport. They eat what they can on the ground and then carry off parts to dine on later. The instinct to kill and eat animals runs deep in our dogs and cats. Feathers everywhere. I lost 4 hens this spring to a goss hawk! A hawk can most certainly carry an adult chicken off - when we have hawks here we feed them live chickens and they do fly with them. Don't mind losing one or two to feed the wildlife, but this is too much. This happened in broad day light. however, another was eaten completely except for a leg and thigh bone and feathers while two others were killed and left untoouched except for kill marks on the head. Small puff of feathers left behind and no blood or parts. My experiences with chicken killing varmints is mostly guessing, but I can tell you that a couple, while out roaming the farm, have just disappeared without a feather left behind, so thinking hawk. Looks like the kill was done by a mammal (cat, dog, fox, coyote, etc), the feathers look chewed off rather than plucked off the way a raptor does. Bullying. Join BYC FREE here to see fewer ads, post questions, upload pics, & more! They will kill more than one chicken, but opossums usually only kill for the food they need that day. (Warning: Hi-jacked by Em). I'm down from 18 hens this year to just 6 now. Several circular areas of feathers left and 4 birds with heads and necks eaten. Lots of chickens at one time by something big enough to carry an entire chicken away. We don't have racoons here, but lots of foxes. 2. Put out a live trap and caught a skunk. Since feathers are indigestible, just about any animal that kills and eats a duck will leave feathers. ii have been loosing chickens the last 6-8 weeks but have only found feathers 1 time. If there are feathers and a body that's missing the breast meat it's a hawk. Um all of them, feathers aren't edible, the rest of the bird is, you might have found evidence of a bird's escape from a cat or other predator that just got a mouth full of feathers and spit them out. the body wasnât found but its guts along with feathers were about 20 feet away from the coop next to our garage. No tracks either. A fox would probably only be able to get a couple (provided it's a night raid), but the easiest way to tell if it's a fox is that the animal will carry its kill about 25 yards away and strip the feathers off in a circular pattern (it literally looks like a bird blew up on the spot). I've spotted bobcats, but am not sure if thet hut in the daytime. They usually take the head off and eat the breast meat and innards of the chicken. Have had chickens in same area for 5 years and only lost the occasional bird. Whatever kills any of your chickens is so very sad. JavaScript is disabled. only one out of 4 chickens and 2 ducks was killed, the latch on the chicken coop was undone but the doors were closed. When a ground animal kills a chicken. A raccoon rips open the crop and sometimes the breast to feast. Swelling causes a henâs feces to be expelled on her fluffly feathers instead of being ejected cleanly. JavaScript is disabled. There are quite a few predators that would love to sink their teeth, claws, or talons into your chickens. one time, we found 4 hens dead in the field with three missing. If you find headless, ripped-up birds, suspect owls/hawks. Raptor kills look neater too, and they usually leave the two wings together with the connecting sternum. Just a little blood. The True Truth: How to tell an Easter Egger from an Ameraucana. No blood or at least very little, it was getting dark but there didn't seem to be any and def no body parts. These are the most common reasons why your chickens are losing their feathers. Cats are great hunters and will easily kill a chicken. A hawk will fly off to a tree and you will find another pile of feathers under the tree. both will take one at a time. To prevent opossums from killing your chickens, itâs best to have a secure coop with no entry points. 0 0 1 ... Coyote, fox or a dog will kill a chicken and carry it off. Just a pile of feathers means a hawk most likely. If you walk around far enough and look close enough you will find a feather....then walk a little more (and you may have to do circles) and another feather..and so on. Understanding Why Weasels Killing Chickens Happens in Sprees. 1. Raccoon. Weasels also provide food for foxes, coyotes, hawks and owls. ⢠Feathers sprawled in the coop AND away from the coop ⢠Broken necks. They will have a larger than normal appetite. The are pit up in a secure coop at night, free range during the day behind a 6 food 2x4 inch spaced heavy wire fence, we've had them for over three years now, with problems starting about 4 months ago. and all the rest of the chickens feathers were on top of a cover for a huge dog kennel And when I caught one in the act and scared him off, he returned within an hour to recover the carcass, which I have since learned is their way. To develop an exclusion plan, you need to determine which type of animal is preying on your birds. This takes place during the day. And their feathers will look ruffled. It would be extremely rare to have a fox kill chickens, leaving them laying around, and taking only one away. Still, you will usually see no other signs of disturbance. 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