Sad day on my farm

[Mousebaby (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Inkpen

Killed ...not eaten..how weird is that!!!
How tight was the wire on the cage?
Or better yet, how big was the wire?
2x2, 2x4, 1x1,
Sounds like a cat!!!!

Ya know I was thinking the same thing because of what happened to one of my hamsters. My cat Grace pulled him through the bars and ate him through the bars. When I went to feed him the next day the only thing left in his cage was his skull!

[BeenSpur'd]

Here is a picture of the cage with the chicks in it. All of their heads were missing and one whole chick was gone. I buried them after my daughter and I said a few words about them. Just thought that cage was strong and nothing would get them, boy was I wrong. I've been getting an egg a day so I'll start saving them again to try one more time this year to get a few more hens.

[happyappygirl (Premo)]

how weird their heads were pulled out and off, but they are in different places. since it happened at night, and there wasn't any light in the cage, they most likely never moved when something reached in and grabbed them. Chickens rarely move in the dark, they can't see well. sounds like a cat or raccoon.
Poor chicks. we had a snake get into ours once, it couldn't get out after it swallowed the doves, the lumps were too big for it to fit through the mesh. I made sure to get him out so he never got in again.

[deemerma]

Originally Posted by BeenSpur'd

Here is a picture of the cage with the chicks in it. All of their heads were missing and one whole chick was gone. I buried them after my daughter and I said a few words about them. Just thought that cage was strong and nothing would get them, boy was I wrong. I've been getting an egg a day so I'll start saving them again to try one more time this year to get a few more hens.

Same think happened to my Quail that I hatched in an incubator. Out of 6 eggs, he was a late bloomer, my dad wanted me to give up they were way past time to hatch, but I persisted and there he was, after two batches of unsuccessful eggs, my very own QUAIL! Used to have in a VERY similar cage, only set up higher and with an enclosure with solid walls connected by a tiny little birdie-door. Went to feed one day and nothing but scattered body parts...I still wonder what got in there, this was in a subdivision in Waldorf, so I didn't really consider dangerous predators to be lurking, no stray cats around to speak of...sorry about you loss, I think I know how you feel. Also had a rabbit eaten from the bottom up in that neighborhood, so did our neighbors, no more outside pets for me!

[Cowgirl]

I'm pretty sure it's an opossum if it's beheading and leaving bodies. We had several head/neckless ducks and chickens over the years.

[Kohburn]

sounds like you need a cage inside a cage with a gap between them large enough to keep animal arms from reaching in.

[desertrat (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

I'm pretty sure it's an opossum if it's beheading and leaving bodies. We had several head/neckless ducks and chickens over the years.

How about a weasel? That is their prefered method of killing and they kill just for fun (or practice) when they're done killing for food. You all got the weasels out here?

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by desertrat

How about a weasel? That is their prefered method of killing and they kill just for fun (or practice) when they're done killing for food. You all got the weasels out here?

I'm not sure they're out here. Could be, I guess.

[jedi2814]

Originally Posted by BeenSpur'd

Here is a picture of the cage with the chicks in it. All of their heads were missing and one whole chick was gone. I buried them after my daughter and I said a few words about them. Just thought that cage was strong and nothing would get them, boy was I wrong. I've been getting an egg a day so I'll start saving them again to try one more time this year to get a few more hens.

Most likely a racoon; possibly a possum, but they tend to be too lazy to work that hard. Strong doesn't matter if the predator's got hands. Racoons are scavengers - they'll take what they can get and move on. The only real protection at night from a variety of predators is a house with no entrances open at night. We lost 15 full grown hens in one night because the door did not get secured properly before dark. We think that was a fox, because we found some of them buried around the farm. Raccoons will kill full grown hens too though.

That cage also would not be warm enough for less than two - four week old chicks if they are seperated from the hen. They need to be kept at 90 degrees for the first week and then have the temperature lowered 5-10 degrees each week until you reach 70 degrees. They should be kept at 70 until they feather out. You may have been lucky this time since it was June. We lost several chicks this spring because the light burned out during the night and they got cold (it got down to 40 that night and they were only 8 days old).

I am all for finding and eliminating the culprit - but that's not always easy - they are smarter than you think (you also don't want to advertise that you did it - unless the animal is in "season" you would be poaching). You have to have good defenses too.

Good luck with your next hatch!

[ArkRescue]

I use chain link fencing to keep predators out (and I have a top also) and although that works great, it doesn't stop them from digging UNDER the perimeter to get in so I constantly have to watch for signs of a dig in progress (they usually dig over a period of nights I've heard). I have not lost any chickens in 1 year but I do have a dog nearby that alerts to anything that moves out there, so I think he keeps the predators at a distance. So sorry for your loss.

I've trapped and relocated 4 raccoons and 4 opossums - those raccoons sure get heavy! I caught them all over a period of 2 weeks in the barn going after kitty food from a rescue kitty I have there who is housed in a big cage/condo - I guess they reach in and take his food? Darn predators!

Originally Posted by BeenSpur'd

I went out to feed up this morning and discovered that the four, six week old chicks that I hatched in the incubator were killed by something last night. I don't know how they did it, they were in a big and strong metal cage on a wagon next to the chicken coop. It was their third night out since I moved them from out of the farmhouse. I had incubated the eggs because a snake had been going in there and stealing eggs that I left for the hen to sit on. I was just trying to let them grow a little bigger before I moved them in with the rooster and hen. What ever got them pulled one of them out of the cage and left the other three in there with neck wounds. The spaces on the cage are not that big so it must of been awfully traumatic. Whatever that something was that did this is going to be trapped and disposed of. I spent a lot of time raising these guys. I guess I will have to try again, I get an egg a day from the hen. I bought the hen and rooster from the county fair last year, it took five months for them to settle down in their new home, they got traumatized from being on display and I think last night set them back again. Anyhow, gotta go dig some graves:(