Karen, Two possibilities. My neighbors and I have definitely seen "fisher cats." These are wolverine family and can be aggressive. They would leave scat. These are most easily recognized by the way they run. These would require a tighter electric fence, maybe two wires separated by a foot that are 4" off the ground. That configuration finally kept the ground hog out of my garden. Another recommendation given how dry it has been, is to run a ground wire, either on the ground or buried half an inch, all the way around your fence to make sure you have a good circuit. The really dry weather we have had was making my multiple ground rods not so effective for the furry ground hog. The second possibility is red tailed hawks. A pair around our house would steal Codman Farm chickens and bring them here to eat, but from my observation, their scat is liquid. These would require sky cover. I suggest a motion activated"trail camera" to see exactly what the culprit is. Frank
On Tue, Nov 19, 2024, 5:07 AM Karen Seo <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > >
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