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[clhw AT InfoAve.Net (clhw)]

It sounds like weasel to me, Bev.
I know how frustrating this can be.
One thing we did to cut down on night time marauders was to position a live
trip across the hen door into our chicken house. We've managed to catch a
couple of hens in it, as well as a possum or two. I think the raccoons are
too smart to get in the trap. At least, we've mostly stopped losing birds
at night. Since ours free-range, most of them are in tree tops, but the
younger, more tender ones use the chicken house.

Two days ago, we lost our oldest hen -- Hole-In-The Head. She earned her
name from an encounter with a predator when she was a youngster. For the
last year she has been wheezing and we've said she wouldn't be around long.
Well, it was broad daylight when a hawk took her. Husband hear a ruckus and
discovered the hawk with her body. Even though she was non-productive (at
about 10 years of age!), and probably too tough to chew, we miss her. She
was the one who roosted in the pecan tree above my car nightly and caused
me to have to park my car elsewhere.

Well, I hope you can solve the mystery. Husband has done a late-night
stakeout over the poultry a few times. Usually, there is no activity when
he's out there, but he has managed to corner a couple of possums who were
probably up to no good.
Lynn

>I'm frustrated.  My chicken count is going down quickly.  Yesterday,
>remember I said I was in and out of the house, something killed a
>chicken in the middle of the afternoon.  All signs point to a raccoon,
>except that it happened in the day.  I found a headless, neckless
>chicken in the middle of the pen, at least 10 feet from a fence.  The
>kill spot, the feathery spot, was less than 10 feet from the carcass.
>Before yesterday, it was exactly 7 days since the last attack, and I
>understand that coons sometimes wait 5-7 days between raids.  Right now,
>I am missing a few birds, but they could be out in the woods loose
>because something came around this morning, too, and scared almost all
>of the birds out of the fence (flew over the 3 foot area where the coop
>is under construction) The chickens normally don't do that unless
>something is after them.  In this case, I suspect a fox or coyote, but
>the kill yesterday had to be either from a raccoon or a weasel.
>I just don't know what I can do.  I can't afford a better fence right
>now.  I have set a trap for whatever(raccoon sized haveaheart).
>I'd put Rilian (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) inside the garden fence with
>the chickens, but I'm not sure he is smart enough to go after a raccoon.
>  He's big and dumb and stupid.  I'd put Bear(Australian Shepherd) out
>there, but he would escape the fence and be on the porch in less than 5
>minutes.  Bear is smart, and he does have the drive, but left alone, I'm
>not entirely sure that he wouldn't go after the chickens, too.  This
>morning his prey drive was a bit stronger than I would have liked to
>have seen when he was helping me round up and pen the loose birds.  And
>no, Bear is NOT the problem predator at large.  I know this for a fact.
>
>Bev, who is about ready to camp out with the gun.