| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Prairie Princess |
Posted - Jun 19 2008 : 06:39:06 AM
Do any of you know what predator could be doing this to the chickens? My bf has lost several this way and doesn't know what it is.... he finds them literally skinned from the neck up, cleanly skinned, too... and then whatever it is eats out of the abdominal cavity, and leaves everything else. It has to be something agile or small, because they have the entire area fenced off to keep the majority of predators out. Does it sound like a racoon???
~Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| wooliespinner |
Posted - Jun 19 2008 : 09:47:23 AM
I have had possums do that to chickens in the past. That was before Sherman our Great Pyrenes dog. He started to take care of them for us. But before him we trapped many. They always eat the middles out and leave the rest. Its a horrible thing to find. Its been many many years since we have lost one that way.
I purchased have a heart traps or live traps ...I think thats what they are called. I used store bought chicken for bait and it worked. Good luck and make sure your chickens are closed up securely before it get dark.
take care
Linda
Raspberry Run Farm
Nubian Dairy Goats |
| shepherdgirl |
Posted - Jun 19 2008 : 08:46:51 AM
Jodi, you might want to contact your local Animal Control office (or the Sherrif if you're town doesn't have an Animal Control Unit). They can usually put you in contact with an animal trapper. A friend of mine had trouble with a raccoon a couple months ago and she called our local guy and he brought her out a cage and told her how to bait it. The raccoon must have moved on though, because she never did catch him and she hasn't lost any chickens since. If animal control, or the Sherrif's office doesn't know of anyone, maybe a local vet's office might? Hope you catch the nasty little boogers! I certainly know what it's like to lose your birds like that!!! Hugs ~~~ Tracy
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~~ George Carlin |
| Prairie Princess |
Posted - Jun 19 2008 : 08:12:26 AM
Oh...my...goodness! I didn't know skunks hunted like that!! I always thought of them more as scavengers...wow. So now to figure out how to get rid of them without "skunking" up the area...
~Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt |
| 82kygal |
Posted - Jun 19 2008 : 08:08:23 AM
Hello,I had the same problem in Mont. I lost 30 chickens. It was skunks. They pretty much gutted them and left a shell. It was horrible, I was looking out my window and saw all these black dots out in the field I went to check it out and it was all but one of my chickens.
With God, all things are possible. (Mark 10:27)
What ever you are, be a good one. (Abe Lincoln) |
