Nature works against my self-sufficency :(

[Beware]

I bought some chicks from the local Tractor Supply a while back (I choose what they eat + they taste so much better when you raise/butcher them yourself) and everything seemed to be going ok. We had a nice enclosed chicken coop so that the dogs, hawks etc couldn't get at 'em...or so we thought.

We came to the pen one day and found multiple chickens dead. No heads missing, no holes dug under the fencing, nothing to indicate how they were killed. We slowly kept losing chickens that way until the last few kicked the bucket. Any ideas on what might have killed them? I want to raise them for easy eggs and meat but it's not worth the money/hassle of raising chicks indoors if they die before I get them on the dinner table.

Some details:
We live in an area bounded on 2 sides by farmfields which provide easy access to any predator.
The coop was essentially a large cube of chicken wire/wood framing. We never found any hole that might provide entry except for the top of the cube, where the two sides of the chicken wire meet.
EDIT: also, the ground was churned up, but I couldn't recognize any marks because of all the chicken scratches in the ground :P.

 

[Scutter01]

Bird flu?

 

[infidel]

call a vet

 

[4sarge]

I bought some chicks from the local Tractor Supply a while back (I choose what they eat + they taste so much better when you raise/butcher them yourself) and everything seemed to be going ok. We had a nice enclosed chicken coop so that the dogs, hawks etc couldn't get at 'em...or so we thought.

We came to the pen one day and found multiple chickens dead. No heads missing, no holes dug under the fencing, nothing to indicate how they were killed. We slowly kept losing chickens that way until the last few kicked the bucket. Any ideas on what might have killed them? I want to raise them for easy eggs and meat but it's not worth the money/hassle of raising chicks indoors if they die before I get them on the dinner table.

Some details:
We live in an area bounded on 2 sides by farmfields which provide easy access to any predator.
The coop was essentially a large cube of chicken wire/wood framing. We never found any hole that might provide entry except for the top of the cube, where the two sides of the chicken wire meet.
EDIT: also, the ground was churned up, but I couldn't recognize any marks because of all the chicken scratches in the ground :P.

How old were they? Did you lose them in this monsoon. I sometimes lose a few in this wet rainy weather. Raccoons, weasles and possoms are smart predators that will kill just for the fun of it and can climb thru the smallest opening

 

[turnandshoot4]

Did you give them a source of heat?

 

[Beware]

How old were they? Did you lose them in this monsoon. I sometimes lose a few in this wet rainy weather. Raccoons, weasles and possoms are smart predators that will kill just for the fun of it and can climb thru the smallest opening

Fairly young. Most of them weren't big enough to lay eggs/butcher yet...
There was some blood spilled on the ground, which I take to mean that there was most likely a predator killing the chickens as opposed to a disease. Sorry for not saying that earlier >.<. Maybe I ought to set out some traps and see what shows up...

 

[VN Vet]

A snake maybe?

 

[El Cazador]

With the chicken wire built cube and small holes, I'd vote for weasels or mink. Raccoons take a larger hole, (top was wire as well, right?) and possums aren't usually predators to that size of chicken, their jaw muscles are too weak. They're clean-up specialists. I've never heard of raccoons "berserking" in a killing frenzy, but mink, ermine, ferrets and weasels are well known for it.

Although if the hole was large enough for a raccoon, feral cats are a serious problem in some areas, and would take on chickens up to pullet size. I've killed feral cats in mine, one was eating eggs and one was trying to drag off a small pullet he'd killed.

 

[ar15_dude]

Fairly young. Most of them weren't big enough to lay eggs/butcher yet...

I don't understand this comment.

For meat, I raise cornish cross chickens, never let them out of the building, they are finished and butchered in 7-8 weeks. Other breeds (not as meaty) take longer, but you don't want to let them get too big or old.

For layers, it takes about 26 weeks before they lay.

So how old were they?

Not that I am an expert, but I have raised chickens for 30 years.

As for what killed them, I suggest keeping the birds confined to a building or a run that is completely enclosed with wire.

 

[VN Vet]

I was think afterward about a weasel also.

Feral cats will toy with their prey and kill it without eating it. But I think a cat would need an opening larger than it's head. Both would likely cause the marks on the ground you talked about.

 

[CoyoteCreekGuns]

It's hard to say what actually took them - Rats, Opossum, Raccoons, snakes, fox, coyote, etc. Did they have a coop where they could roost at night?

It's important to keep the chickens either closed up at night or up high enough that the other predators won't mess within while they are sleeping (as it's easy pickings when their asleep) I do not confine my chickens and really don't recommend it (except for meat birds, but even then they are outside but contained in a mobile hutch).

With all of that being said, I actually built our coop on top of an old hay wagon so that I can move it around the property with my tractor. Their entrance to the coop is high enough (approx 4 foot) off the ground that that we don't have to worry about the small predators (raccoons, opossums, rats, etc) as we don't have a ramp going up to the entrance, the chickens have to fly into it. So far all has been good, but we still need to watch out for fox, coyote, etc as they could still jump in and enjoy a good meal.

Don't give up!

 

[TheGhostRider]

I just noticed this thread...
I had a similar experience a number of years ago.
I had an enclosed coop for chickens and ducks but I started loosing them on a fairly regular basis.

This coop was enclosed with the exception of a small opening at the top for the occasional Robin or Dove that found its way inside to escape through.

I finally sat up one night with spotlights aimed at the coop and a deer blind and waited.... and waited... and..... finally all hell broke loose about 03:30 in the morning... it woke me up! lol.
I kicked on the spot lights... I remember having 4 500 watt units... and lit the place up. Damn was it bright coming out of a light snooze in a dark blind!

Their was the predator! And it was blind as hell from the instant daylight and flying all over that coop trying to find it's way out.
An Owl! O'l mr hootie had found the small opening in the top of the coop and managed to get in.
I was amazed at how smart this Owl was to figure out how to get into the coop.
I closed the hole up and that ended my problems.

You might want to look out for Owls. Even the Great Horned can get through a VERY small opening.