What the hell is eating my chickens?!

[coldcomfortHeart]

We live very rurally and had two free range hens and a cockerel. We had fox attacks to the coop in the past (dead of night, lots of feathers, all hens killed- a fox was run over on a road near our house and the attacks stopped) but the coop is secure against foxes and badgers now.

One of the hens got broody and 7 chicks hatched out. (They're about 6 weeks old now) About three weeks ago the cockerel and the non-broody were killed during the morning, between 10-12am I think, when we were out. Feathers from the hen everywhere, one or two cockerel feathers and both bodies vanished.

One of the chicks was killed, again during the day when we were out, two weeks ago. Found part of a wing but no other sign.

Then today the broody and another chick have vanished. We've been home, and outdoors, all day from 10am. I saw her this morning from the kitchen window before we went outside. No sound or sign of feathers etc but she's definitely gone and so has a chick. The remaining 5 are peeping plaintively on the doorstep. Quite heartbreaking.

So any ideas what the hell is popping them off?! I know foxes can be bolshy but middle of the day? With loads of noise from us going in and out of the house?

Badgers I've discounted as they're nocturnal and it's not happening in the hen house.

I've seen a small hawk (sparrowhawk I think) dive bomb them once months ago, but never since. Would a buzzard take a fully grown hen though?

Weasels? Rats? Again, would they operate during the day and take grown hens and a cockerel? He was sizeable!

Feral cat? I saw one once in the garden a year ago and then on our dirt track about 9 months ago- it was definitely not a domestic, it was terrified of me and very wild looking.

Another thing is we had lots of rabbits hopping about but the garden is eerily devoid of them now.

Seriously, any thoughts? It's like a serial killer drama out there!

chupacabra?

My money's on the sparrowhawk.
My parents had a family of foxes living in their garden and a sparrowhawk got the foxcubs one by one, and also the annoying fat pigeons that used to eat their peas.

Polecat? Might be being fanciful - not many of these left. Feral ferret? In my experience not many cats take chickens, although recently a poster on here disagreed with me and said she had known several that would. The only one I knew of that killed a cockerel was a big siamese - sadly he was a cat-killer too, which I'm sure is rare.

Had to google the chupacabra!

I didn't realise a sparrowhawk could take such large prey, that's amazing. Where we used to live a buzzard picked off pigeons by driving them towards our house and pinning them against the windows. It happened several times when we lived there and I actually had a Buzzard In the House Contingency Plan should the large panes of fragile Victorian glass give way!

Polecat or pine marten/other ferrety type might not be that fanciful- we are in the north of Scotland near woodland.

It's annoying that I'll probably never know, unless I set up a Killer Cam...

Probably a mink - the little buggers have no shame

Two chicks left. Two taken the night before last. One taken in the space of 15 minutes in between trying to round them up, coming inside to get a net and going out again (still daylight!) One has a bite wound. Whatever it is is quick- obviously sneaking up on them and striking as we never hear anything. Poor remaining two will be rehomed to friends with more secure fencing and no killer with a taste for chicken. Feel sad- it's been so quick and relentless. Reckon it must be a mustelid of some kind, can climb and strikes at all hours, dragging them off.

Poor you & your chicks.

Going on where you are, I'd reckon a polecat or pine marten. They can climb & squeeze through small gaps.

Not a nice way to go .

Foxes will attack during the day too - my neighbour lost her four girls in a savage fox attack during a sunny afternoon. Horrid. One of my friends lost hers to a mink.

Big hugs, it's so heartbreaking xx

Thanks Hazel it's very grim. I staked out the hen house last night with two chicks safely inside but it didn't appear. I desperately want to know what the bloody thing is! DH is even considering buying a camera trap... most expensive two chickens ever

My hen was taken last week at 11 a.m. only about ten feet from me in the garden, it was a fox. But bite marks on a chick sound more like a marten or mink. A fox would have grabbed and snatched it. Sparrow hawks would take chicks, but again, that wouldn't explain the bite marks. Possibly you have more than one predator, you could have a fox, marten and the odd sparrow hawk, all coming into your garden. I have foxes, badgers and sparrowhawks, also buzzards, as regular visitors, but only the fox has taken any hens.

could be a rat taking the chicks?

Stoats did for some of ours. They had quite a few days between attacks where as I believe foxes tend to be back next day.

I did wonder about rats saintmerryweather I thought we had a rat infestation after the snow, as there were tunnel-like paths everywhere, but it turns out we have lots of field voles

There will be rats about though I'm sure.

Argh it really could be anything. A predator combination is likely too- fox for the big ones, a mustelid for the bites, climbing and sheer stealth factor. How big are their burrows I wonder? There must be a pile of bones somewhere?

@ chupacabra - but my money would be on a red kite or similar esp given the lack of feathers - is the top to the run open?

Yes the lack of feathers is puzzling. They were definitely vulnerable to bird of prey attack although they always had lots of dense ground cover which they dashed into. If it's a mustelid the bloody thing's burrow could easily be in all those dense bushes.

The remaining two are locked into an ark just now. Mrs Stoat is probably plotting her next move

I think a buzzard would too actually. I have seen them take pheasant here which is about the same size

The fox that took my hen did so without leaving a single feather. He just snatched her and was gone, all I saw was a flurry of fur and a tail, by the time I reached the spot, nothing showed that my hen had ever been there. I think there are only a lot of feathers when the fox kills more than one chicken and they are flapping about. Raptors pluck their prey, so any left feathers look kinked but are pulled out at the root. Foxes chew, so the feathers left look different, more chewed up and broken.

Foxes do attack during the day - i lost my first two hens that way.
I've found that electric netting during the day works or at least fox-proofing a run as much as possible. E.G. chicken wire isnt fox proof and certainly not stoat proof.
Digging a steel mesh underneath so they can't dig under.

Feral cat has taken a few of ours, we only know as we caught in the act once. It's a mangy looking yoke, I found it the shed with the girls when putting them to bed one night! First time it struck we only found her beak and feet a few days later under the hedge. I still haven't found the last one:-(

Mink or fox (you would see stoats, they don't really fear people nor bother to hide or sneak around) - get a trap. You will catch them.

Fox or mink. They also hunt during the day and are even willing to come close when a human is around. They are also known for the fact of returning day after day until they have killed them all (even if they don't eat them all).