Seeking help at identifying what is eating my chickens. The chickens
are free-ranging tiny bantams. An adult rooster (less than a pound) was
eaten about 2 weeks ago, and a half-grown female chick (perhaps 4-6
ounces) disappeared the next week and an adult hen this past week. The
forage area is surrounded by electrified fencing that is generally
effective at deterring coyotes, foxes, dogs, raccoons and bears but
smaller predators could get through the openings or under the lowest
electrified strand, e.g., weasels, skunks, opossums, rats, squirrels.
While hawks have taken some chickens previously, the survivors are not
showing the scared behavior they've shown after previous hawk attacks.
The week+ gap between kills seemed odd -- I'd have expected the predator
to come back right away. Scat was found in a corner of the fenced area
-- I was unable to shrink the photos sufficiently for sending to
LincolnTalk. Please let me know if you'd like to see them or know of
someone to whom I could send them for identification. Any help would be
much appreciated. Note that cameras will be getting installed but are
not yet in place and electrified chicken fencing (smaller holes than
current fencing) may get set up too.)
Thank you,
Karen Seo
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