Masacre at the farm..only one survivor.

I cried for hours this morning when I went out to let our 5 chickens and one duck out for their daily excursion. When I went to open the gate I found that only one hen came out. Something burrowed two feet under the ground under a wooden fence, and came up on the inside of the chicken run. I could see the feather of two of our hens. Our rather large duck (Pekin Duck) was gone, and our rooster (my best friend in the world) was stuck in the bottom of the hole. I am so upset that we followed what so many people has suggested to a T. We used steal fence all the way around the run...wooden fence used as a retaining wall on the back side (where this thing burrowed down), we put chicken fence into the ground all the way around it...chicken wire over the top too! I never heard of putting it also under the dirt!

I dont know what to do now....we only have one tramatized hen.

What do you think could have done this? The hole was only about 6 inches around, but two feet deep. What can we do to ensure this doesnt happen again? We plan to set a trap, and also to watch out and see if we see anything. although...I doubt we will because we have never seen anything out here when we were looking for it.

Please help. The picture of the orange chicken in my last posting is our one remaining chicken.

All I do know is that i want to cry more...I feel like I am going to be sick any minute...and I am going to miss my chickens and duck. They were the one thing that I was happy to come home to.

And no...it wasnt one of our cats. They were affraid of the chickens, and both inside at the time. :(

I am so sorry about your chickens and duck. I think I would find a leg hold trap and put it in the bottom of the hole and hope that whatever it is comes back looking for more. If you have a sturdy cage or cat carrier, put your remaining chicken in it so whatever it is can't get it. I suspect that it was a fox as they tend to carry several chickens off at once without much left behind. We cought our "killer fox" the very first try this way.

I took a hog pannel with the smaller grid and put it in the bottom of my chicken pen, then threw dirt and litter over it. It is stronger and won't rust out like chicken wire and I can clean out the pen without getting caught in the wire. I KNOW it prevents tunneling as I also have it in the bottom of a rabbit enclosure and nobody has dug out yet.

Also check your area for freecycle.org. Lots of times people are looking for homes for poultry. The humane society also ends up with ducks and such and doesn't know what to do with them. If you were closer I would give you some of mine. I love coming home to my ducks. They are always so glad to see me. I thing God created ducks for pure joy. All you have to do is watch them play in water to believe it.

Hang in there and DON"T GIVE UP!

Thank you so much. Your message really made me feel (at least a little) better. We are going to get a live trap and put that in there tonight. I feel horrible that my little babies where trapped in there with no way to protect themselves. There were perches, but since this thing burrowed up under where they hudled and slept together (they all cuddled with the duck at night) they couldnt get out of the cart that was overturned for their protection.

We will look to see if we can find some more to fill our coop, but I dont think it will be the same. When you raise anything from birth it is hard to look at it as anything other then your child. Our rooster that was caught in the hole was still in tack, and only had a few feather lost.

I have always loved all of God's creations...but whatever killed my chickens and Sam the duck...is going to die very soon.

Its so sad
I hate hearing about stuff like this

I do bury my fenceing underground in certian pens
I make a 1 foot x 1 foot wide trench all the way around the outside
I set up the regular fence at ground level
then I take hardware cloth ,chicken wire or something simalar and bend it into
a "L" shape,with about 2 feet as the upper L and 1 foot the lower L
I lay the lower L in the bottom of the trench,the end of it pointing out
The upper part of the L becomes part of the above ground fence
You can attach it by threading thin wire thru(weave it)
or,when I'm lazy I just attach wire ties every few feet.

When things try to dig under they just end up hitting fencing all the way around
they are not smart enough to think about digging out further

I learned this from my dogs who tried to dig their way out of the fence they were in....LOL

and there is much grumbling from children who have been forced to help dig this trench.......

If you manage to catch a fox in a live trap, make sure you take it more than 5 or 6 miles away. Once it knows there is food in your yard, it will try to return. I still think the hog pannels on the ground are easier. They were 18 bucks for a 13x4 foot pannel (we used 2 and almost 10 years later, they are still working with minimal work instaling. We even put a big wooden box of sand for dust baths in the corner, since the chickens could no longer dig their big holes in the dirt. I put the pannels under any ground level pen I build. I eventually want to replace all the chicken wire with them like I have for my rehab pens.( I discovered the hard way that a half grown fox can chew through wire.)

Great suggestions. This animal dug its hole about a foot away from the fence, and then down two feet...and then over. It came up right underneath where our chickens and duck slept each night.

We went to try to find more chickens since our one remaining hen is horribley tramatized. Unfortunately no one is carrying them anymore, so it looks like we will have to order some now. I carried our buff orpington hen around most of the morning as she made this horrible, sad sound...and shook in my arms. We just got back from the farm store with 4 live traps of various sizes. My fiance is also taking me out for some target practice after we get these set up. Hopfully tomorrow i have good news about catching the darn thing that did this.

As far as the fox goes...I dont think we will take it anywhere if that what killed my chickens. Whatever we catch tonight will be joining the fate of my poor chickens.

Is your chicken house sitting directly on the dirt? You might want to put it on some stilts or cinder blocks to raise it off the ground and put a secure floor on it. It's not enough to have a good fence. Having a good, secure chicken house means even something that gets inside the fence can't get at your birds.

The chicken house is not attached to the run yet...but will have a floor as soon as it is complete. They were sleeping under a cart, and that is where they preferred. They didnt like to be high up it seemed since the duck always slept on the ground. Tonight we plan to put our last hen into a cage inside the run. Then, with four traps set...we had better catch these things! We drove all over our 20 acres trying to see if we could find any feathers...but aside from the strugle in the coop...there is nothing to be found.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I too have had to deal with a massacre so I can really feel your pain. I know it's hard but try not to dwell on it. I hope you can catch whatever it is. I had problems with hawks, owls, coons and possums when I had chickens. I like the idea jylgaskin had about the hog panel on the bottom of the pen. When it happened to me I built a solid coop off the ground on cinder blocks with a plywood floor. This did the trick but the hog panel would be lots cheaper. Chickens have a high mortality rate anyway due to diseases and predators so I tried to think of them as friends that would be with me for a short time. My thoughts and prayers are with you today.

**Leah**

Careful leaving the hen in a cage
some critters can kill them right thru the cage(coons and weasles
maybe a cage inside a cage?

and a fox rarely will be caught in a live trap
never heard of it happening
smart as a fox I guess
coons and skunks are easy
weasles are another one that I know will go in a live trap

use canned cat food for bait
coons also like marshmallows
maybe break a few eggs inside with some still intact

Sorry to hear about your duck and chickens. It's heartbreaking to go through that experience.

I'm soooo sorry, it hurts I know to lose the ones you've spent so much time caring for.

Julie

That's a real bummer ! I'm sorry you've lost your pets.

I recently experienced the same thing. I had some of the little white crested black polish chicks and they were so sweet and tame.
It made me sick when something got them. All we found was feathers.

We think ours was a raccoon. They are so crafty and agile with their grubby little fingers and claws. The little monsters. Some folks think they are cute.................not me. I have no problem with doing away with their measley existance.

This year, the barn rats have killed more of our chickens than ever before. We did some research and found out that if the feed/grain is so closed up that the rats can't get to it, they will start taking your chickens. And yes, they do dig and drag. We lost 300 chicks one year and it took a while to find the hole/tunnel they had dug and in that tunnel were all of our dead chicks!

You don't want to poison them because they become immune to that, but you need a big rat trap. Not a wooden one, but a steel one that you can disinfect and wash off really good. When a rat gets trapped in a wooden trap, they eliminate from every possible crevice that they have. What it is is a protection technique for the next rat. You can't get that smell out of a wooden trap and therefore, no more rats will be caught in that trap. And yes, they will kill big and little chickens and ducks. Ours are full grown chickens that have been disappearing. My DH saw one dragging a chicken off. He said they're big enough to be shot.

It could have been a fox or a raccoon, usually both will clean you out.

I'm so sorry, I no how devastating it is when you take such good care of these creatures.

:( Kathy
MistyMeadows

Thanks for all the advice, and thoughts. We set 5 traps last night, and Ryan (my other half) slept near the window on the couch all night. He got up several times, and all we caught was a small cat. She was very tame...and I think just wanted the food in the trap. Ryan saw a skunk come over the hill last night just before the sun went down...then the skunk went down. He said he wasnt going to take any chances...and since he wanted revenge anything coming over that hill was going to die.

Our last hen is still safe...but still tramatized. I hope she gets over it and moves on, but I dont blame her. I couldnt imagine witnessing what happened and being the sole survivor.

what a sweet guy your ryan is, I'm glad he is there to help you through this. Let us know if you catch anything...

**Leah**

The hen will get over it and she will be abetter "watch" chicken for the new ones when you get them. When we had our fox problem and I finially set the leg hold traps, we used one of the hens in a steel cage as "bait" I'm not sure she ever trusted me again. She still glares at me out of the corner of her eye. I've tried and tried to explaine to her that it was for the good of the flock and she did, after all, draw the short straw...but you know chickens...

Even a year later, if something comes near the pen or coop at night, she will let out a shreek to warn the others. (which is really making the cat edgey)

The only way we got the fox, was to find where it came through the fence and built a tempoary enclousure of hog pannels to make sure it went where we wanted it to go. We then put the hen in the cage on the other side of the traps, we had 4 traps set and tied to a tree, so it couldn't miss them. (I'm no fan of leg holds, but a fox just won't go in a live trap). I was glad we had more than one as it was a huge fox (we first thought it was a coyote) and it would have carried off the first trap. I don't think the hen would have been quite so pissed at me if it had not started to rain. There actually is something to the old saying about "madder than a wet hen".

Anyway, we haven't had a problem since, except for an old skunk that occasionally steals a duck egg and a wild turkey that is in love with my peacock.

But THAT's another story.... Hope you're feeling better today!

Oh thank you! The comment about the turkey in love with your peacock really made me smile. Thanks. Since we do think it is a fox I think we may try the leg traps...although there are so many small cats around that I would be horrified if we got one of them. Any suggestions?

That' why we made the enclosure. I have all kinds of animals running around and let's face it, domestic cats aren't usually attracted to chickens (use one of the live traps to put the chicken in for bait or use something attractive to foxes and such but not cats. (like raw eggs) Also a small leg hold, seldom breaks the leg and if it is released within hours, it's usually ok. We used small traps for that reason. If the tunnel is still there, I would use that to my advantage, a preditor will always take the easiest route where it can get in and out quickly without being seen.

I didn't even buy my traps, I borrowed them from a local trapper.

I rehabilitate wildlife and it breaks my heart to kill anything wild, but I found out I have my limits, and my "ladies" are worth protecting.

I'll tell the turkey that at least someone thinks she's cute. Of course after looking at male turkeys, I thin my peacock is more attractive too!

Mcamden,

I'm just sick to hear about your loss. I'm so sorry.
I thought I would share with you my Papaw's solution for keeping digging predators out of his coop, which had a dirt floor. I hope it helps...

Mom said that Papaw would dig a wide & deep trench right next to the frame of his coop, all the way around, and fill it with LOTS of broken glass, then he filled in the rest of the hole with dirt - which would be deep enough that his chickens couldn't "scratch" down to the glass and possibly ingest it when they were free-ranging. Whenever a digging predator started digging, the broken glass would cut its hands/paws and the animal would stop. He felt that bleeding paws were better than him loosing his whole flock. He would then replace and clean up what glass (had) been dug up, covered it with fresh dirt, and packed the dirt down. ......The ONLY food Granny and Papaw had for themselves and their children, back then in Eastern Kentucky, was whatever (they) were able to grow, can, and raise, so that required drastic measures when it came to predators trying to get their animals. They could not afford to loose their flock and farm animals to predators.
Mom said that because Papaw used this method of predator control, he never had any problems with raccoons, etc. getting into his pens or coops.

Under the frame of my coop, I dug deep and put 2 courses of cinder block so that if a predator tried to dig under, he would hit a cinder block wall - but my is coop off the ground so even IF something figured out some way to get under the frame of the coop, my chickens are 30" above the ground, on heavy gauge wire that is too small for a predator to get its hand/paw through. I would think that the combination of an elevated coop, cinder block foundation underground, and a heavy glass barrier, would do the trick. Hope some of this is helpful.

~~ Glenda

My DH wants to know if you live near a creek or a river because he thinks it sounds like a mink with the hole so small. A fox would have had a much larger hole. Even a small red fox would have a hole that would be a foot in diameter.

A mink will continue to return until they are all dead. A family of mink could do that or a family of small raccoons would also do that.

He says you need a 1/10 Conibear trap and if you have pets, you need to tie them or bring them inside when you set the trap. It's very easy to set and anything that will go through the trap will get killed. You can get a trap from a sporting goods store.

Hoping your other chicken has survived the night.

Kathy

Glenda,

Thank you so much for all the tips. All we caught last night was another cat that we let go this morning. I really want to catch this thing, and then make it into a scarf! My poor hen still will not cluck. She just makes this whining sound that i never heard come from a chicken.

Someone else mentioned the glass idea...and I agree! I like that. I think we will do heavy stone all the way around going down a foot...then line the bottom of the inside with stove...and cover with dirt. Then we will go out from the wall a foot (maybe two) with this glass idea...if this doenst work then nothing will...but I am confident it will. We are also installing a motion light on that side of our building which will shine into the run, and putting a radio inside the coop which will be on 24/7...a neighbor said that people's voices will keep most anything away. I guess its all worth a shot.

Kathy,

We DO have a creek nearby, and a mink was what I originally thought it was as well. I am not familiar with that type of trap, but I will look it up and see if we can get one. I may be concerned though that we will just end up killing lots of farm cats. There are so many around...and they are all friendly. We caught two of them in two days with our live traps.

Is there anything else that may work to catch a mink without harming a cat if we were to catch it?

mcamden, I hate to tell you this but cats will kill chickens too! I would love to have a barn cat or two to keep the field mice out, but cant because of feral cats in our area. The worst loss of young juvenile chickens I ever had was due to a Mama cat that belonged to a neighbor. She would come over just before sunrise everyother day and burrow under the fence and steal Chickens While they were still on the roost. For some reason she felt that the Chickens would be a better meal for her and the kittens than cat food. She was a gentle sweet people friendly cat too! She just preferred chicken for breakfast! So be careful not to overlook the probability that youmay have already gotten your predator. I hope so anyway!
E.

Eufaula,

I didnt think a cat could dig that well. This tunnel was quite long, and went two feet down, before it cut over and came up under the chicken coop. I know that cats eat chickens given the chance, but I didnt think that it would burrow that far down to try to get in. I suppose we should start getting rid of any cats we do catch...but its hard because they are so friendly...and much like my housecats.

I don't think it was a cat that burrowed
But they do kill chickens
minks can wipe a flock out in one night

I know one guy who uses a baby monitor out in the barn
He had mink getting into his aviary killing his expensive waterfowl
It worked
he slept with it next to his head and woke up every time they raised a ruckus
he got the varmits

another person I know got one of those remote cameras
that you set up and its taped everynight
Thats how he found out he was dealing with an owl and coons

The first one he used wasn't great but then he got one of the night vision ones

probably if it was in a well lit area a regular one would work

No ,I didnt realize that the tunnel was so deep. I dont think a cat would even try to dig that far. Definitely a burrowing varmit!

Yeah...we set up a camera last night. It worked...Ok I guess. We could see poor orange hen (Ryan likes to name everything by what color it is)...she was up and down all night. We kept her inside a cage...inside the run again last night with our neighbors rooster for company. She just cant sleep...and I dont think she is eating much.

We REALLY think its a mink or fox based on everything we have found out about them...but all we have cought are these very small, friendly cats. I told Ryan that the first time we will let them go...but if they come back...then we will have to send them away on a more permanant basis. I am still looking for more hens to keep my orange company...but no luck.

do you have any fairs around you?
Many exhibitors are getting rid of bird at shows.....
also
post something about what you want at your feed store

mcamden, check around and see if you can find a flea market. I can't remember what's near by you, but I'm sure there's probably several with 25 miles of you. There's almost always someone at one of the flea markets here that have chickens.

Feed store is also an excellent place to check. Ours have a bulletin board that people can put ads on.

Yeah...I am too close to Omaha I think! I went to all the local places when we went to find traps, but there were ZERO postings! I put an add on Craigslist here, and I had one reply..but she wanted $10 a chick! I laughed and said...how many eggs does it lay a day?

Must have been one of the 'special' chickens that puts out a dozen a day. :) Good news is that my orange hen just clucked! It was her first cluck since the event, and I was SO releaved to hear it! She is also turning from the visious hen that made us want to eat her...to almost kind of friendly.

On another good note...our neighbor gave us a one day old mascovy duckling (I think thats how it is spelled). His little boys watched as the eggs hatched then told their dad that they should bring me one because my Sam was eaten. I nearly cried as it was so darn cute of them to offer. I took a duckling...even though I was worried about raising one alone. My other duck and chicks all grew up together and were fine...but I am worried that this one will be depressed...or not know what another duck or chicken is later. Should I be concerned about this? Or am I just being silly? I attached a picture of the little bugar. :)

The duck will be fine alone. He will either attach himeslf to the hen or you! My Quackers was raised all alone in an apartment and then abandoned in the middle of winter. We got annother baby duck the next spring and he took to her right away. He was at least a year old before he saw any other fowl. (he didn't think I was nearly as attractive once he saw the new duck though). They have raised three broods together and now he has TWO women!

Oh my...so our 'hen' clucked last night for the first time since the 'accident'. This morning Ryan came to tell me she was 'clucking' an aweful lot in the garage. Well I went to see, and I was SHOCKED! If you go to our website you can watch the video I took of 'her'.

http://www.freewebs.com/ryanandmelissa/hencrowing.htm

Yup...just my luck!

Awwww man! Thanks to slow dial up I could not get the video! But I have a sneaking suspicion you're going to say Shes a Crowin!!!! Dont worry, Now you wont have to wonder where you are going to get a " Cock" from! ( see I didnt forget) LOL!!!

Oh...that is hilarious! Yes...'she' was crowing this morning...over...and over...and over! Any chance she just THINKS she is a rooster? Hahaha...

ROTFLMAO

jeepers
well ....now you GOTTA get some hens

Oh my that is funny. I love crowing roosters. It is a peaceful sound to me.

Having your chicks and duck killed is awful and very sad. It reminds me of when I was young and we got up one morning to a lot of dead and missing chickens and ducks. Katrina the boxer next door had gotten in and killed almost all of the chickens and ducks. We did have a few left and found ducks of ours blocks away. It was an awful experience. I remember my Mom telling my Dad to get the gun and shot the d--n dog.
Well I remember he did get the gun but couldn't shot the dog because it belonged to the neighbors children so he shot over her head and told my Mom he missed her. Well after my Mother calmed down some and we kids stoped crying she was glad he had missed. It didn't help our poor babies though.

That is SO sad...I guess I should be thankful that at least I did not find 'parts' of my little chickens. We are getting some hens that will be ready to lay eggs...so at least we dont have to start over again with chicks. Has a Buff Orpington roo ever been bred to a RIR or a Sexlink? I am just wondering what would come out!

A barnyard mix of sweet baby chicks. Heinz 57.... I like all of em, no matter what the mix. Those breeds would make a nice flock, since they are all the larger size chickens. They are all fairly good layers also.