Went to bring my birds their morning scratch and let them out of the coop and found 48 dead hens. Necks broken, and bitten, but not eaten or mutilated in any way. the only way into the coop was a ventilation opening near the ceiling.
So, what kind of predator kills for the fun of it, can climb 12 feet or so and then, climbs back out again??? I had to tell my egg customers that business was over for now. Two cockerels and two pullets escaped (the only survivors) and were hiding in the woods. I am from eastern Massachusetts in a wooded area, and there have been several sighting of fisher cats nearby (within 1.2 miles).
Thanks for your help!
Sorrowful in MA
Predator question
Sounds like mink, weasels, or rats. I don't know that mink can climb but rats sure can. What is a fisher cat? Mink or weasel would suck the blood but my experience with rats is that they eat the birds alive. So I wouldn't really suspect them that much. I'm so sorry to hear this happened to you. Such a tragic loss. Be sure to close up that hole before bringing in anything else.
How sad. That's so terrible.
That happened to me also. Found dead chickens, injured at the neck and breast area. No visible signs of entry by the predator. Finally I figured out they had to come and go thru the egg gathering door which was hinged and had to be lifted, also climbed up to access.
I really do believe ours was racoons.
I put out rat poison mixed with fish flavored canned cat food the next night
and they ate it and never returned. I could see their little finger tracks in the bottom of the bowl.
Once they find a free meal, they will be back every night until the plate is empty, whether it be chicken or fish.
So sorry to hear of your loss. I hope you catch the bandit soon.
Ugh, what a nightmare. So sorry.
Fisher cats are related to minks, weasels, etc. They are lightning fast and have just recently made a comeback in the NE - they had become nearly extinct but were reintroduced to help combat a porcupine problem. They are one the the very few animals that will prey on the porcupine, striking the face until the porcupine weakens, then going for the underbelly - the only two places unprotected from the quills. They can come in and wipe out an entire flock. Here in Mass. they have been seen killing outdoor cats, although the wildlife"specialists" say that this is exceptional and that it's coyotes that are the problem.
My ventilation hole now has hardware cloth over it and there is no other entry. I have ordered new chicks, and will get my electric fence back up and running, but I used to be able to free-range my chickens which as you know makes the eggs unbelievably yummy. Fisher cats hunt during the day in winter, the night during summer and other times dusk and dawn.
There was almost no blood anywhere, and no other wounds on my birds except for the neck.
I looked up Fisher Cats on the internet. Interesting animals! But it seems according to the material I read that they would have eaten the whole birds. As do most racoons and possums. It seems that some member of the ferret/weasel family who is small and sucks blood is the predator. Breaking the neck seems to just be a way to make the victim hold still. Look for punture marks on the neck(large blood vessel areas)and very pale tongue, eye lids, etc. that would indicate the blood was sucked out. Were you able to salvage any of the birds for meat? At least it wouldn't have been a total loss if you were. I pray you find the answer soon. I've had losses similar to this and it is so heartbreaking. Plans and dreams to say nothing of income gone in such a brutal senseless way.
That's so sad! I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think it was a fisher cat, personally. I have heard of them taking cats, but not sucking blood or killing and leaving it there.
Here is an interesting website about weasels. It is definitely skewed towards dispelling "myths" about weasels, but does directly address the chicken killing issue. Interesting, if nothing else. Sorry about your loss, Natasha!
http://www.dancingbadger.com/mustel03.htm
Sorry for your loss, Natasha.
A fox can do that too. My friends first batch of bantams was killed by a fox, who didn't eat them either. There was another incident where a hen was injured, only a small drop of blood, caused by the rough rooster, and three mixed breed hens killed her. Then, two of the mixed breed hens turned on the third mixed breed and killed her. The hen killings seemed to be inspired when the pure blood hen started setting - the mixed breed hens and the rooster have been here for almost 2 years and they've never hatched a single egg, and except for the one that was killed, the other two hens seem to have absolutely no interest in setting, but they don't want anyone else to hatch babies. We are just before getting all the difficult to manage chickens rehomed. Life is too short to deal with mean chickens - we have no problems with the bantams, zero.
A light in the chicken yard and chicken house really helps. I use hardware cloth on all openings. I surely hope you find the right solution to keep your chicks safe and I'm so sorry this happened. I don't guess there are many chicken owners that haven't lost some and only then did I realize how secure my enclosures had to be. Good luck!!
id say it was a fox or more then one . i use to live in nh and ma so i know fisher cats to bet its a fox i had that happen to me so i stayed up one night and sure enough 3 foxes showed up i shot 2
My vote is for Weasel
a fox or dog will kill for sport but the weasel will behead them and drink the blood or eat any soft organs they can
another beheader is an owl
Wouldn't an owl take one or two away, rather than the massacre Natasha described, though?
I would guess they would.......
unless they too train their babies
I still think a weasel or a mink........
Weasel seems to be the consensus of the old-timers up here too.
I really appreciate all the sympathy from other poultry keepers- I was in sorry shape! I have lost a few young chickens to a fox before (caught him in the act!) and this was definately not a fox(unless they can climb up 12' sheer walls to the top of the coop). And I got rid of any mean-tempered birds I ever got. I didn't use any hens for cookin' because I wasn't sure if that was safe. 48 hens would've been a lot of chicken pies! Is it safe to eat chickens killed by a critter?
We have spot lights on, and now all openings (even the smallest) are covered with hardware cloth and I am getting ready to start over.
For consolation I ordered some gold and silver laced cochins and some black langshans besides 17 new chicks for good egg laying!
Thanks to all of you again for your kindness and understanding.
I'd love to see pictures of the new babies when they arrive!
Natasha,--We had a similar experience a couple of years ago, but it was one chicken per night. The predator would dig under the chicken house, and get in, eat head/neck area and leave. We set a Hav-A-Heart trap and caught it---a skunk. It's strange to me that you had so many lost in one night. Sounds like it was more than one culprit. Good luck, and see my post about our latest mystery.