Disappearing chickens!

[The Ruminant]

My foray into a very small chicken enterprise has not gone well, as all eight chickens from the first hatch have disappeared.

They hatched on 1st June so were reasonably well grown. They were in a pen that had electric netting round the outside.

When I went to check on them a few days ago there were only seven, not eight in the pen. I scoured right round the field they were in and around the surrounding area but there wasn’t any sign. No bird, no obviouspile of feathers etc.

Next day, same again, down to six birds, again no sign. Electric fence still in place, no gaps underneath, no sign of digging.

Next day, down to four.... and finally yesterday there were zero! I did see a buzzard flying away from a nearby tree last night. Could a buzzard be responsible? Wouldn’t it leave a sign, feathers, blood etc? It’s definitely not humans, given where the pen is and given the electric fence.

Any thoughts?
(PS my second batch of 28 eggs were incubating nicely until day 19, when the temperature in the shed rose to 40C+ and cooked all but three of the developing embryos - very sad. Maybe I’m not cut out to be a chicken farmer....

 

[Kidds]

Crows will take them if they are small, as will buzzards, ravens etc.

 

[Wilksy]

Maybe invest in a couple of wildlife/trail cameras for next time, see what's visiting you night and day, my guess would be the buzzard

 

[britt]

If it's a buzzard you will find a pile of "bits" under a tree nearby.

 

[Dry Rot]

Could be anything from a whole range of predators. I'd suspect something of the weasel family. Up here, that would include pine marten. But I've lost full grown pigeons to rats and the killer of full grown hen pheasants in a laying pen turned out to be a weasel gaining entry via mole runs! If the pen is open topped, that raises the stakes considerably.

 

[gloria1]

hi a fox would kill them all in one go ,maybe bury a few,eat one,so v unlikely its a fox. A buzzard would tale them one by one ,but usually eat them close by and tend to just eat out the heart and body leaving legs and wings,also stoats/weasels/crows/heron will all have a go. A trail camera is a good idea but shutting in at night is safest and a net over top.

 

[delilah]

Heras fencing. As a roof as well as sides.

 

[ImLost]

Incubators in sheds at this time of year = disaster

 

[Ukjay]

Is it possible you may be suffering from a human kind of pest... As no obvious feather loss etc. Any local people nearby?

 

[curlietailz]

Well we have stoats, rats, crows, foxes, badgers, Buzzards and dogs all trying to eat my babies

I’m with the Heras fencing pens with roofs on at all times plus the chicks don’t go outside until at least 4 weeks old ( they are born and reared in a garden shed type thing

and then they have a double wire mesh fence type thing to stop predators

it’s a scary thing tearing chicks

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

I would use technology in its most basic form and put them in a little shed for 2 or 3 weeks.

 

[farmerm]

get bantams... ours seem to appear from random places with clutches of new chicks faster than anything can keep pace eating them!

 

[farmerm]

I had a pair of buzzards take fully grown ex battery hens in the past... When I spotted the carnage in the yard the buzzards had eaten so much chicken they could barely get off the ground

 

[The Ruminant]

Turning up last night to an empty chicken run was quite sickening.

Turning up tonight to find five chickens back inside the run was a big shock and very pleasing!! I think I need to clip their wings...!! Goodness knows where they’d got to last night and who knows where the other three are. I’m on a steep learning curve...

 

[Old Boar]

Get a big ball of string and string it at random over the run. Not a regular pattern. It stops all but the small birds. Get some fishing line and put in a couple of lines in the pattern, they cannot see this, and then string a couple of CDs on the line so they dangle. The flash from these seems to put off most things, or maybe they see them as huge eyes. Works on pigeons in the garden too.

A cockeral also helps as he can shout a warning and the chicks will run under Mum or cover very quickly.

 

[Dry Rot]

I think we need to know more! What breed are these chickens? Any photos -- of the chickens and the run?

I lost a dozen earlier under similar circumstances but that was to free range and I suspect foxes although a trail cam revealed nothing. Next time, they will be kept in protective custody. I do like to see them running around and thought they were safe enough roosting in the trees -- until I saw a fox running across my lawn with a hen in it's mouth at 8.30am. He was obviously just waiting until they came down from roost in the mornings. All locked up now.

 

[Lincs Lass]

If the chicks are still small ,I've known hedgehogs take them but that was from under the hen who nested under some shrubs,,as theres no feathers you can rule out sparrow hawks ,they pluck their prey where its caught,,any other prey birds abouts ,kestrels,red kites, even magpies.

 

[The Ruminant]

These were three-quarters grown Bresse Gauloise. I'll take a photograph tonight, if they're around......

 

[4course]

I had high hopes on entering this thread that it was going to develop into a similar vein as getting the horse out of the stable, maybe just needs more time

 

[anviethouse]

condolences with you and the chicks. Hope next time you will be successful with cute chickens