My chickens have been slowly dissappearing. First my Buff Orpington pullet went awol in broad daylight. Then my white Silkie roo vanished from his yard. Yesterday I was missing a black Austrolorp pullet and a completely wild game hen (the game hen might be nesting somewhere though).
Sounds like a bird of prey could be the problem. Maybe a cat simply drug the remains of the silkie hen to your doorstep? Mammalian predators wouldn't be taking birds from a pen in the daylight. I would be on the lookout for a hawk. Usually you can see the spot where it grabbed the chicken. Look for a bunch of feathers grouped together in your yard. Hawks often take their prey away from the kill sight a bit.
Depositing kills on the doorstep is also a dog thing. Our dogs also will kill an animal then lay it in front of the door for us to see what they have done.
That's the wierd part. There are no feathers anywhere. The Silkie hen was the only one I've found. The Silkie hen wasn't really messed up, just a broken neck, no feathers missing, no chewed marks, no punctures. She was dirty, like she'd been a little wet and then taken a dust bath, but beyond that she wasn't chewed up. I didn't realize she was dead until I picked her up.
My hens fly over six foot pens, especially if they don't like the food or if their food or water is low. Do you clip their wings? When one gets out, it seems to give the others the idea. My Leghorn is the ringleader. But the heavy breeds don't do it. They're too... you know, heavy! Carolyn
Well, the Orpington and the Austrolorp can... could... hardly fly up onto a roost. They were only 6 months old, but way too heavy to fly anywhere. Ditto for the Silkies. My flyers are in yards that have covered tops, except for the game hens who I couldn't catch to pen up.
About an hour ago I find my white Silkie hen in front of my doorstep with her neck neatly broken.
My dogs are not able to get to the chickens. I have some barn cats, but they're not hunters. One is so old he's missing all of his teeth and he runs from the chickens. The other two are just kittens that get beaten up by the Silkie roo. Now depositing kills on the doorstep is a cat thing, but would a cat I don't take care of do this?? These birds were taken out of 5 ft high cyclone fenced pens.
Or should I be looking for a two legged predator? All of my birds just became indoor birds until I can figure out what's taking them. My garage is doubling as a coop right now.
By Mark Jacobs (Mjacobs) on Saturday, June 9, 2001 - 09:41 am:
By Trox on Monday, June 11, 2001 - 10:50 am:
By Jade_stone on Monday, June 11, 2001 - 06:21 pm:
Can't be my dogs. They have no way of getting to the birds without leaving a SERIOUS trail of destruction... they're all over 100 pounds.
By Carolyn (Smoots) on Monday, June 11, 2001 - 09:44 pm:
By Jade_stone on Tuesday, June 12, 2001 - 02:51 pm:
I found the missing game hen though. She's got a nest, and the other two game hens went broody as well, so all three are holed up.