# What is killing our chickens?



## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Short story -we had 45 chickens, we now have somewhere between 25-29. 

Long story -Our chickens free range, so it's not suprising if we loose one or two here and there but we really never had any problems. We have lost 15+ chickens now, and the predetor is coming back very often. It eats the eggs, chicks, and carries off the chicken. The only body parts it has left behind is two wings and a foot, plus egg shells and feathers. Other than that.... Nothing. We had trapped it, but it broke and bent some very heavy duty wire on the trap and escaped after eating all the tuna. We reset and baited the trap, but of course it hasn't come back. We don't have a water source nearby. We have a lot of coyotes but none on our property, plus it wouldn't have been able to fit in that trap anyways (long, narrow live trap). Raccoons and possums are another idea, but they would have to live on our property or right across the road where the only trees are in this area. Plus, we have lived here for two years and haven't seen a single one. A badger is also a possibility, we have a lot of those around here. So, what do you guys think it is and how do I trap it??


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

They killings seem to take place at night.


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## Cactus_Acres (Sep 24, 2013)

What time of day are they getting them? At night, can you lock them up tighter? How about Fox, skunk, or weasels? Get a critter cam. Our local hardware store had some for around $45 this spring, that would take stills along game trails. Might just try to get pics to identify your culprit. 

Something climbed a post last year and took down a nearly full grown turkey we had. Took off its head. Never did figure that out.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

It's possible we could lock them up tighter at night, but then the predetor would still be out there, and would possibly start taking them during the day. Seems best to just get rif of it to me. I don't see how a fox could bust out of that trap. Skunk, maybe, but I haven't seen any out our way. A weasel is a good possibility, but they don't seem strong enough to break the trap!


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## HerdQueen (Oct 15, 2012)

Racoons would leave bones, skunks those wasteful critters will kill and leave a ton of the carcass behind usually a skunks will eat from under the wings. I HATE skunks, I swear there is unemployment line for skunks for everyone you kill another moves right in. Fox will take the whole bird. Coyotes will take the bird and pluck it as it runs off. Weasels will eat heads off birds. Ugh can you tell we have run the gammet of predators here? Sounds like a fox, but you know bobcats are making a comeback in the US.


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

I had bobcat chicken issues too, not sure though.

Live trap with some store bought chicken in it should tell the tale, get a large trap.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

I would say fox, but I agree with you that a fox wouldn't be strong enough to break out of a heavy-duty live trap.

I have a strong opinion concerning predators. IMO you must take measures to protect the chickens every single night, and if you have problems during the day or if the predator is too big to lock out, use a livestock guardian. (By the way, if you're having problems with "night animals" such as foxes and ***** during the day, I'll venture it's because the predator has already come to view your property as a restaurant. Nip it in the bud by locking up your chickens at night.)
Eliminating the predator is NOT a solution in my opinion. Inevitably, another predator will sooner or later move in, and then you'll be back to square one, except you'll have lost even more chickens. If you want to donate a percentage of your chickens to the wildlife, trapping is a workable solution; otherwise, it's not!
Most of the people I know who rave about how much they hate varmints, are the same people who focus on removing the varmint instead of on protecting the chickens. I don't hate varmints, because I have ways to guard my animals against them.


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Once the predator gets an easy meal, there's no stopping it. Chickens are a lot easier to hunt than wild animals! I think killing the varmint should be your #1 priority, along with protecting the chickens. I mean, if the skunk or whatever can't get your birds, they'll just move onto someone else's or continually stalk your property.

That's what I think anyways. We don't give second chances to varmints killing our livestock


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## JAR702 (Apr 28, 2014)

Lock your chickens up at night to protect them
Put up a solar motion light or the kind with the red eyes to scare the critter away
Put up a trail camera by the chickens to identify the varmit
Put up another trap to catch it
Can you put the chickens with bigger animals such as LGD, donkey or llama?
Good luck


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## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

Last year I lost over half of my chickens, several full grown turkeys, and every single clutch of eggs to a group of raccoons that were led by two very large ones. I managed to rescue one turkey hen as well as a young pet goose but both of them needed a lot of stitches to repair their wounds.
I tried every normal kind of trap that you can think of and those ***** couldn't be caught. (Because they appeared so suddenly, out of nowhere, I sometimes wonder if they had been trapped and relocated from elsewhere?) Anyway, cage traps, wire snares and leghold traps all failed, and I flatly refuse to use poison for any reason.

After talking it over with some of my trapper friends, I finally gave in and bought several Duke dog proof raccoon traps online, baited them with marshmallows, and scent-enhanced around them with cheap pancake syrup. ('Saw how to do this on YouTube.) I caught ALL of those raccoons the very first night that I set the traps, and the losses stopped immediately.

The carcass remains that I found (when I found any at all) sound much like what you describe - sometimes little more than wings and maybe a head or a foot. There were usually feathers everywhere because ***** are not very efficient killers. On the nights where they had killed several birds, the less-eaten bodies were missing only the best, meatiest parts.

To me, it sounds like your culprit is raccoons, and I cannot recommend those Duke DP raccoon traps highly enough. They can be set in the same area with your chickens or other animals without danger. The only drawback is that you will have to shoot the raccoons to get them out.


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## Naunnie (Jul 4, 2014)

From your description of the destruction, I am also thinking Raccoon. I have seen some pretty stout ones, especially the males. I have no doubt one could bend and break the wire of your trap. They have really good memories. Who knows....it may have escaped another trap at some time. Just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean it is not there. They could be traveling from 5 miles or more away to the "chosen" restaurant".

Extra info I keep handy. http://icwdm.org/inspection/Livestock.aspx


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Thank you all for the opinions everyone, I will reset the trap tonight with new bait (marshmallows, tuna, ??) and see if we get anything. I would LOVE to get a LGD, but I don't think my parents would be up for the idea.


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## goatpoultryduckrabbit (Dec 27, 2013)

Your not the only one with that problem. I have a fox problem so I can't leave them out 


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## goatpoultryduckrabbit (Dec 27, 2013)

I tried trapping it but no luck so far


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

I would say it is a raccoon.
Our chickens are also free range. We started with 20 chickens, and came down to 6. On the 6th killing, we herd noises at the coop in the middle of the night, when we went out there, we found and shot a raccoon. The raccoon had busted good traps on multiple nights. Similar story with some friends of ours: the raccoon was eating and eating chickens, and after it busted several traps, they caught it. 
It is pretty hard to trap a raccoon.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

I completely agree with raccoon. They eat everything. The grains, the eggs, chicks, adults, whatever. They'll pretty much normally eat live prey right on site, but will drag/carry smaller pieces off.


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## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

If you have raccoon problems and you don't want to fool around, this is what you need:

http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Dog-Proof-****-Trap/dp/B004949EIC

You _WILL_ catch them with these traps.

There is slight chance of catching a cat if it's one that's inclined to reach and grab with its claws so I don't use any fishy or oily baits. Sweet bait will work fine for *****.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Any chance it could be a bobcat? Right now I agree with the Raccoon, but wanted to throw that idea out. 

The trap has been reset tonight, hopefully we catch something... In the morning I will show the duke dog proof trap to my parents. Anything to get rid of whatever is killing our poor chickens! 

Glad that all the other animals have been safe so far...


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## HerdQueen (Oct 15, 2012)

Don't know if you ever caught what was killing your birds. I just want to say, please handle anything caught with extreme care. I shot a rabid skunk that was out at noon chasing my birds around, when I went out it chased me back into the house and tried to get me throught the door. This is why I am very much someone that will put an animal down that goes for livestock as opposed to letting them be.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Wow that's scary Erica! Friends of ours said there were some rabid skunk near them.. :/ scary stuff!


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Nothing yet.... :/


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

I am so sorry. We lost a third of our flock this year. Going by what neighbors have said and a National Geographic special we saw; it was a fox. They don't just kill and eat. They kill everything and come back for the carcasses to bury for later. We had nine dead hens in the back pasture. Now we lock everyone up at night. No more losses so far.

As to not killing varmints; the neighbor I am talking about told us that two years ago he saw a fox, had a bead on her but saw two darling little kits following her. He let them go. Now, both he and we have lost livestock and we are thinking it is those cute little kits all grown up. We kill predators.


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