The last couple of days I've lost some of my laying hens. Initially, one hen was killed each night. I found them at the back for the fence line with heads, necks and crops missing. The first night I lost one the grave of our recently departed dog was dug up (could this be related?). My husband was out of town for the next couple nights and each morning I would find one more - killed the same way. There was no entry points that I could see. The wasn't any holes and the fence was in tack. My fence consists of stucco mesh 4 1/2 feet high with nailed to 1"by6" boards dug into the ground. One day there was two chickens killed. One I found in the pen and the only remains left of the second was feathers in one of my horse corrals about 400ft away from my chicken pens. When my husband got home he sat out with his shot gun and the number of animals that came by the area was surprising. There was a skunk, owl and a stray cat and a racoon. Since then he has shot the skunk but hasn't had muck luck on the others. I haven't lost any more chickens since but I belive that is just a result of my husband shotting at every thing that has come by - no jokes about his bad shooting. He did get the skunk (which from my understanding only go for eggs)! What I want to know is first hand experience with these preditors. I want to know how each one killed and what they do to get their pray. For example, can a racoon climb stucco wire and can a weasel get through a 2"by2" square of stucco wire. I believe this information is crutial to stopping any other problems from occuring. Any good web sites to look at?

-- Debbie Bazan (ajfuri@mb.sympatico.ca), October 22, 2001

Answers

owls take just the heads ,, a skunk will go for eggs, but only beacause the chickens are usuallt faster. They will dig to get food,,as will a dog. A cat, fox or dog will leave feathers. Set some traps out see what you get. A mink or weasel can and will go thru a 2x2 wire, but they will usually just suck the blood out. A coon cant go thru it,, but can eat thru the wire, if its a thin enough wire. Coon can climb alot of things, stucco, wouldnt surprise me

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), October 22, 2001.

I have had a possum kill a sick chicken in a cage with 2 inch square metal wire. I saw the possum squeeze out! Also raccoons will eat chickens if hungry. Mink and weasels usually do not eat the entire chicken but drink the blood and usually will kill more than one bird. Setup a live trap and see what you get. Hopefully not a skunk!

-- Tom Silliman (tomdarsavy@cs.com), October 22, 2001.

I had raccoons kill my chickens just for fun. They would eat part of one then kill another. They can climb anything and dig under too. I put an electric fence around my chicken coop and no more problems.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), October 22, 2001.

This is a subject close to home for me, I had NO idea what was killing my hens. The same as yours, head, neck, and crop. We had 49 chickens and now, we are down to 12 hens! It took me 3 months to find out it was a Great Horned Owl. It is 24 inches tall and has a wing span of 5ft. It is against the law to kill them here in Worcester Co. in Maryland. I have told so many people of my ordeal I am now afraid to shoot it. I just know the law would come swooping down on us. I have secured the area, the Owl was breaking our chicken wire, the wire was old, but he is amazing. I now have chain link fencing we had laying around up around the entire coop. I haven't had any visits in a week, he came every 3rd night. He also came right after night fall. Between 8:30pm and 10:00pm I walked right up on him one night. I didn't have the shot gun then. I wish you the best, the owl is a tricky one. Karole

-- Karole (Biz3boymom@aol.com), October 23, 2001.

If its an Owl or Hawk, a way of catching them, and not "necessarily" killing them is to get a white pigeon from your local livestock auction (they're usually pretty cheap), Then get a wire cage, just large enough for the pigeon. Set leg-hold traps on top and around the cage. Make sure to tie them to stakes. It has worked for me many times. To get the bird off the traps alive, use a thick sack or tarp thrown over him, and wear heavy gloves. (Or perhaps use a steel-shot sedative on him first, they tend to struggle much less after only one application!) A farmer once told me the best method for getting rid of perisitant hawks was the three S method. "Shotgun, Shovel and Shut-Up!"

-- "Pull" (maybeIbetternotsay@somewhere.com), October 26, 2001.

I have the same problem only with ducks. Something is eating just the necks. I set live traps and nothing so this makes me think it is either hawks or owls. Sure wish I knew something to get rid of them. Is there anything I can sit around to scare them off?

-- krhae turner (krhae@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.