I run a sanctuary for chickens. Most range all day in large fenced areas which include some woods and sleep in one of two barns at night. But, we have a relatively new crew of roosters (mixed breeds) who had been accustomed to sleeping in the trees where they lived before. Upon arrival, about half decided to sleep in the coop but about 12 went for the trees. They mostly sleep in one tree which is fully within a fenced area. They've been with us since June with no problems until now.

And here comes my urgent call for help. Starting last week we've been beset by a mysterious nighttime predator. So far, we have have had two birds killed by having their throats ripped out and a couple of others bloody about the head and neck. The dead ones have not been eaten. One killing was in the middle of the night, the other just before dawn. Once there was an aggregation of feathers at some distance from the body.

I'm thinking possum or raccoon, since either of those could easily climb the fence and the tree. Please help me figure out the predator and, most importantly, what I can do to deter him or her. I'm going to try to get these birds into the coop in the interim but they are wily, having lived semi-wild for many years before coming here, and can get higher in the trees than I can possibly climb.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

-- pattrice jones (pattrice@bravebirds.org), December 21, 2001

Answers

Hello Patrice! I am intrigued by your chicken sanctuary and would like to hear more about it. E-mail me privately if you like. My guess is that your predator is an owl. My experience has been that they are the ones who take just the heads, or the crops (neck). Raccoons tend to be more thorough, but at least they eat what they kill...the wastefulness of owls really upsets me! Also, the fact that your killing is happening at night suggests owls. The only thing I have found to work is a pen with a roof. And, if it's not an owl, that may still not be enough, since a coon or opposum will tear apart wood or fencing to get in if they really want in. We had an owl, and simply draping chicken wire over the top of the pen was enough to stop him.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), December 21, 2001.

In my experience, a coon will take the whole bird "home" for snacking at a later time. My best guess is also an owl. GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), December 21, 2001.

Ditto!

-- Ardie /WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), December 21, 2001.

nope,,not an owl,, not at least ripping the throats out. My guess, a weasel,, they is plenty in the archives about it,, if they were missing heads,, an owl,, but ripping hte throat out,, and not eating them,, a weasel. But somthing may be coming later,, and getting the bodies,, like a coon,, so you may eb dealing with more than one thing

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), December 21, 2001.

And, what surprised me when I saw it, weasels CAN climb. I saw one go down an 8-foot 4x4 deck support just like a squirrel, stopping on the way down.

-- Laura Jensen (lauraj@seedlaw.com), December 21, 2001.

I'd say you have a weasel and they are hard to get rid of,will kill for the sport of it

-- Gary (burnett_gary@msn.com), December 21, 2001.

Definantly a weasel!!!!We left our dead chickens lay til we could catch the bugger! It had slaughtered a chicken & took her young chicks also. Always ripped their throats. My husband got lucky one day and went in and it ran under a board, he stomped it. Got It !! They can be hard to get, and they go through tiny holes, good luck.

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), December 22, 2001.

Thanks for all of the information. You've convinced me that it's probably a weasel. In any case, what we decided to do was get the birds out of the trees and into the coop, where we've not (yet) had any predator problems. We were quite a sight last night, trying to herd the birds away from their favored trees and into the coop and climbing up after those who got past us. Finally, they were all inside. We'll just keep doing the same thing until they become habituated to staying inside. And, thanks to your info about weasels, we're going to closely examine the coops for any potential entry points.

Also, Shannon, we've corresponded before, during the Buckeye rescue. I run the Eastern Shore Chicken Sanctuary in MD.

Thanks again to all!

-- pattrice jones (pattrice@bravebirds.org), December 22, 2001.

Thanks to all for all of the information. You've convinced me that it's probably a weasel. In any case, what we decided to do was get the birds out of the trees and into the coop, where we've not (yet) had any predator problems. We were quite a sight last night, trying to herd the birds away from their favored trees and into the coop and climbing up after those who got past us. Finally, they were all inside. We'll just keep doing the same thing until they become habituated to staying inside. And, thanks to your info about weasels, we're going to closely examine the coops for any potential entry points.

Also, Shannon, we've corresponded before, during the Buckeye rescue. I run the Eastern Shore Chicken Sanctuary in MD.

Thanks again to all!

-- pattrice le-muire jones (pattrice@bravebirds.org), December 22, 2001.

Could be Possums. Have alot of problems with them around here. Sigh ~ ~ ~

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), December 22, 2001.

Could be Possums. Have alot of problems with them around here. Sigh ~ ~ ~ Possums will kill any animal to try to force it to lay an egg it can eat. But they don`t eat the animal they kill. They just leave a mess. They are too dumb to know if they are killing a rooster or an hen, or cats,, what ever they can get ahold of they will kill. They do it in the way you discribed.

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), December 22, 2001.

Weasels!! I lost most of a beautiful flock of chickens over two nights even though they were in their pen. I discovered that young weasels are so small they can go through 2" chicken wire so make sure any openings are well wired with 1" mesh or smaller. And use a good strong gauge of wire, these guys can be determined.

-- Kathy Millar (homefarmbc@pacificcoast.net), December 23, 2001.