Can someone help this . My wife has or had chickens. Something got in pen killed everyone. Not just our.

varmit_master

New member
Hi my wife had 19 hen's 1 rooster . We got a 6ft pen all the way around it. Something got in pen this after noon killed them. Some was deaded some had there heads chewed on not deaded. My mom in law had this happen too hers up the rd. Something got in her hen house killed everyone. In the same ways ours was killed. I set traps caught 5 wild house cats in a row. My mom in law a few had there heads laying because them like the head was chew off. The only thing I can think is a mink. We have ponds by each house. The pond is 250 yds from our. That is a big loss we was getting 18 eggs a day. I want to take care if what is doing it before I get more. My youngest boy had 2 hen's he was going to show at fair. It killed them he is so broken heart now. Thanks.
 
is your pen covered? some pics of the enclosure may help us get you setup for future success.


being a daylight hit i'm kind of with you on the mink thing, but it could be any number of critters.


around here fox, racoon & opossum are at least as dangerous to a hen-house as mink are.
 
Most likely a coon but honestly could be anything. Most importantly you need to get a top on the pen first off, a trail camera can help you determine what youre up against.
 
I will bet on a skunk go to the bottom of the pen dig down and out a foot bury chicken wire when they try to dig in the will hit the wire put a top on the pen u should be good
 
if it was a skunk your nose would have told you. theres not much chance a skunk could do that much damage and not leave behind some very telltale funk. even half a day later or more you'd likely be able to know what the guilty party was.

my $0.02 usd
 
Skunks don't kill chickens much. We had them living in or under our chicken coup and they get eggs but not chickens. Mink and weasel will kill for fun and do go after the head. Coons eat eggs, might kill a chicken, but all of them? A dog if he could get in is notorious for chicken killing. A fox or coyote would grab one and run.
 
Ever figure out what it was? My parents had the same thing happen. Some of them looked like nothing happened but they were just dead while most had their heads messed up. 1 was still alive but from top beak to the back of the head was eaten off and it was still alive standing in the coop. I think 9 of 13 were killed.
 
Not to be contrary, but skunks will kill chickens as often as given the chance. While they are great mousers, I kill all I can around our place. They are chicken kill'en maniacs.
Shot enough of them in the coop, and after the damage was done to know. They can be real killers.
We trapped 13 last year, and have gotten almost 8 this year already. Gotta keep them thinned out.
Racoons are bad too, as is a weasel. Need to make your pens completely predator proof, to have any chance of success.
re
 
I lost 8 hens in two days and set dp's thinking raccoons. Turned out to be one skunk. I found it when I went out to feed bottle calves at 4:30am talk about a natural alarm clock. DP's never caught anything after I dispatched the skunk.
 
My money is on mink or weasel. 110 conibears, triggers spread wide with mono fishing line tied to ends. You can also spread one trigger wire wide, the other vertical, set trigger to vertical side, and set trap upside down.
 
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