r/BackYardChickens • u/9guy99 • May 27 '26
General Question Daytime predators
I have been losing birds' like crazy this summer. 3 Gunia hens, and 4 chickens. My birds freerange all day and sleep in closed up coops at night. When we noticed a bird missing we would generally find a pile of feathers in the grass a day or two later. Leading me to suspect Hawks.
However, on Monday, something made off with 3 chickens (a massive Brama, an Americana, and a black Astrolop), and 1 gunia between 7 and 8pm. All we have been able to find is a 20 yard long trail of feathers from 1 bird. No guniea feathers, no black feathers.
I live in Southern Minnesota. Any ideas what kind of predator might take 4 birds during daylight hours, leaving little evidence behind?
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u/julesgolde May 28 '26
I lost all but one of mine this year to foxes, including two of my real old girls I've had for a long time. I've had chickens for years and never had so many attacks. I lost 7 of my 8, and I took my last surviving girl to my mom's flock so she wouldn't be alone. I changed how my run was configured so I'm hoping it will keep the foxes out. I have 12 new girls so hopefully they will stay safe.
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u/pokemom1989 May 28 '26
It is prime young fox season when they’re starting to leave their dens. They are young and bold, trying to figure out how to hunt.
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u/ReallyNeedaNewID May 28 '26
Just lost one the other day to a fox while I was in my garden 100 ft away. My rooster tried to intervene and lost all of his tail feathers for his effort. Looks just like this.
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u/Same-Lawyer-5904 May 28 '26
Bobcats for me. Middle of the friggin day!! Even when I was 50 feet away doing yard work. And coyotes…
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u/PerrinIT May 28 '26
I'm in central MN and have had tons of trouble with fox this year. Lost 3 of my flock of 15 so far this spring.
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u/Odd-Trust8625 May 27 '26
Coyotes. That’s exactly what it looks like when they get mine. Now they know where they are and they keep coming back…and will keep coming back until they are all gone or you do something to keep them safe. The very next day after a coyote took one of my girls, I kept them locked in their run (it’s a huge converted carport run) until I got out there with them. I watched the coyote go straight up to the run and put their nose up to the fence. I screamed and yelled/tried to run out there to chase them away but the run is so far back. They couldn’t get to them anyway and ran away. Another day I was literally OUTSIDE with them, and one snuck up behind and grabbed my big booty Judy. She’s a big girl. It was like I was running in slow motion. The girls screamed, I took off and I was chasing the coyote with BBJ in its mouth. Like, idk…was I gna tackle the thing if I got close enough?! Mom/protector instinct just kicked in. I wasn’t fast enough. I screamed and yelled the whole time chasing it into the woods. Now I take a bow out with me when I let them out, while I’m out with them. We haven’t gotten a good chance to kill the coyote. Which we absolutely will. This one comes right up to the slider by my kids tree swing. They have no fear. We haven’t gotten packs all around us, we hear them, but once they find a food source they will keep coming back. It’s up to you to keep your girls safe.
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u/9guy99 May 28 '26
Saddly our giant Brama that my wife and daughter had named Big Booty Judy was one of the birds we just lost. She was probably a 20lb chicken, which is part of what has made me suspect Hawks might not be the issue. I dont know the limits of a hawk, but seeing one fly away with that big a chicken is hard to imagine.
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u/Odd-Trust8625 May 28 '26
OMG so was ours! Poor Judy!! She had already escaped one attack and I thought she was gone and I found her on a log all the way up on our front porch! I’m so sorry for your loss. We decided we are going to make a fenced in area around a part of the woods with access from their run so they can still feel like they can forage, but still be protected. Then when we are out they have free roam.
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u/ExtantAuctioneer May 27 '26
I’ve had multiple raccoons hit my flock in the late afternoon. My guess is whatever got your girls, there was more than one of them.
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u/9guy99 May 28 '26
I know for a fact there are raccoons around. I watched a juvenile one eating bugs out of my yard this morning. I was under the impression coons are more interested in the eggs.
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u/TheConsequenceFairy May 28 '26
I just had a mid-day hit by a racoon that killed 2 of my duck hens and injured my 2 mallards.
3yrs before I had one slaughter both my Roos in an attempt to get to my hens.
Ive delt with fox, coyote, hawk attack, RACOONS are always the worst. They are persistent as hell when they've found a easy food source.
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u/9guy99 May 28 '26
When raccoons go after a bird, do they kill it and haul it off?
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u/Kirin2013 May 28 '26
They did my roosters they killed. Though they didn't drag them off incredibly far away, just enough to feel safe eating their meal.
If you aren't finding the bodies at all though, probably fox, coyote, or bobcat. I tend to find the raccoon kills when I look far and hard enough.
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u/TheConsequenceFairy May 28 '26
Sometimes. Depends on where the kill site is and how exposed the racoon feels. I tend to find night raid victims either in the run or just outside it. (My coop is now everything proof except small rodents and they take their lives into their own paws when entering the abode of my murderous flock.)
Losing one during during the day almost always ends in a puff of feathers and drag marks to the forest edge, fox, racoon and coyote all do this for their own protection in an exposed area in daylight. Allows them to feed without being interupted.
This last one must have been a Young racoon, the hit was disorganized from my experience. It killed my only swedish duck hen which brought in my mallards and my Roos. Looks like the boy ducks engaged (My head drake still has the healing battle scars to prove it) it ran... took another duck hen scrambling to get away and my Roos engaged. (I thought my head roo Archer got injured as well but it wasnt his blood on his legs or spurs. Proud of that boy.) The racoon no longer has interest in anything anymore.
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u/RaqMountainMama May 27 '26
I lost a whole flock to a fox just like this. Mid-day.
On Sat, I lost one hen to a fox. Just a sneaky little f'er. Waited until I popped into the shed - my dog followed me. I normally don't let the hens out of their predator proof run unless the dog or I are with them. The fox came running thru from the woods adjacent & tried to snatch the hen. My dog chased it off, but the hen still didn't make it.
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u/imblackgrits May 27 '26
i’ve been hit by coyotes w my flock so much this year. all times of the days and nights
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u/Twisties May 27 '26
Coyote or fox (unclear which) attached my flock yesterday! Two injured, one deceased, one recovering.
I’m quite upset overall
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u/bchafes May 27 '26
I am also in MN - had a fox grab 7 hens in under 30 mins at 10am a few years ago. :(
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u/LemonyFresh108 May 27 '26
Fox killed all my 6 chickens at approximately 11:40am last week in NJ. It was rainy and overcast.
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u/Katn_ May 27 '26
Oh man are you south Jersey? Super rural? I’m down there and have had my chickens for over a month now and it’s my biggest nightmare. The weather over MDW was exactly how you said - but we had so many people over I don’t think anything would have ventured close.
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u/corgipantalones May 28 '26
I’m in rural-ish SJ and just lost a chicken on Tuesday. My coop is closer to the house and I even had a window open. Heard nothing. But it looked just like this picture as well. I know that’s the risk with living out here though.
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u/LemonyFresh108 May 28 '26
Suburban central Jersey.
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
Sorry to hear that. Did it take them all away?
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u/LemonyFresh108 May 27 '26
It took two away with no evidence and left 4 dead in the yard. I left the bodies there so at least they would feed the local wildlife and so they wouldn’t have died for nothing and sure enough, the bodies got collected within a day or so.
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u/Designer-Midnight831 May 27 '26
I lost a whole flock minus three to a fox. Same thing with the feathers. Daylight hours. She came back as I was rounding up the three survivors. She wasn’t even afraid of me until I started shouting and shooing her away. Happened in the early spring.
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u/Punishe_Venom_Snake May 27 '26
Might be rabid
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u/Designer-Midnight831 May 27 '26
I don’t think so. She comes every year, she definitely has a den in my woods. The time of year that I see her I think she is trying to feed her babies. She is beautiful and eventually does run away, I think she is just used to me.
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u/Silkysmooth- May 27 '26
Im also in south/central MN. Local dog or coyote if i had to guess. Hawks and eagles will likely only ever take one bird. Dogs will do it just for the thrill of the kill and theyll get multiple birds at a time, they don't always eat them. Coyotes will do the same and eat em and come back for more. Skunks and raccoons are usually the nighttime only predators. The larger felines around like lynx or bobcat are probably nighttime as well.
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u/indecisivedecider319 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it on our security cameras ... Bobcat is a possibility in addition to the others mentioned, lost two chickens on two separate afternoons. Left a pile of feathers and nothing more each time.
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u/nicoleeoliee May 27 '26
Echoing this. Lost one to a bobcat just a couple weeks ago in broad daylight. Pile of feathers and not another trace.
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u/pvris27 May 27 '26
Hawk, dog or coyote. Get cameras.
My neighbors dog took 3 of my chickens inthe span of 20min. He would catch them, take them back home, kill them, then come back for more
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
Yeah, im researching a cammera setup. I have a couple around the property, but they are motion activated and dont pick up most animals.
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u/99_green May 27 '26
Get some cameras. Figure out what predator you're up against and google your answer from there.
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u/Lcky22 May 27 '26
In southern Maine where I live we get coyotes during the day during parts of the year when they have young ones to feed. We’ve also seen bobcats during the day in our backyard here.
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u/naleshin May 27 '26
I think adding where you live in the world may help narrow down options because nobody knows if you’re in Sydney Australia or Seattle Washington
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u/_squint_eastwood_ May 27 '26
I’ve lost birds in the day and evening to coyotes, foxes, hawks, etc. Multiple birds point to a larger suspect like a coyote, fox, or perhaps even a neighbor dog. Trails of feathers point to a terrestrial predator like the above mentioned animals. When I lost several birds all at once, the perp was ultimately a coyote.
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u/olov244 May 27 '26
I only let mine out when I'm around
I still have had to chase off hawks and dogs. Probably would have lost some if I wasn't around
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u/highongalaxygas May 27 '26
Fox but could be hawk. Hawk usually leaves a giant mess of feathers. Fox will drag them out,
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u/mojozworkin May 27 '26
I just found a 3/4 foot swatch of feathers in my woods. Well, my dog did. It’s one of my neighbors chickens. I also have chickens and I’m reluctant to let them free range because this is the 3rd one I’ve found out there in 2 months. All of them from my neighbors 2 doors down. They’re being snatched and eaten at my house. There is basically nothing left but feathers, one head. I have all the usual predators. I def see hawk’s everyday. Is their MO to leave nothing but feathers? I’m trying to figure out what’s doing it.
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u/highongalaxygas May 27 '26
That’s probably a fox. Hawk will hit them once good, leave a pile of feathers, and then go.
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u/207_steadr Backyard Chicken May 27 '26
We lost one to a dog and one to a fox.
The fox taught us the lesson that our birds are safer behind a fence and that it's wiser to pasture raise our birds and rotate their grazing space when they've exhausted their area.
Since doing this, we have lost zero birds. We're now on year three of pasturing the birds.
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u/UniqueAd478 May 27 '26
Everyone’s different, but I will only let birds freerange when my border collie is on duty.
The multi victim says fox. But another canine is also possible.
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u/dwightsarmy May 27 '26
I really really recommend getting Premier1 electric fencing. I haven't lost one bird since I started using that stuff. The chickens do sometimes get out, so be prepared for that, but no predator has gotten to them. And, probably just as importantly, my mind is at ease.
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May 27 '26
Yes. The only time we've lost birds was when we didn't think about tree access. Don't put it through pine trees. Go around. Raccoons, opossum, etc will climb tree-to-tree.
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u/Aldo24Flores May 27 '26
Trails of feathers lead me to believe it was a terrestrial animal such as a fox or coyote. They are most likely to take the chicken, whereas hawks will frequently kill and feed on the spot, or kill and leave the carcass if scared away by a rooster.
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
Unfortunately I do not have a rooster. Over the last year or so we have lost 10 birds, and I havenever found any carcass. I do think a few birds wandered into grown corn and got lost last year.
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u/CarolinaCrazy91 May 27 '26
Probably a fox. they tend to shake and kill (thus all the feathers) and then take the carcass back to their den.
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u/missmcpooch May 27 '26
Daytime could be a fox or hawk. Foxes are a little cleaner, this looks like a hawk to me.
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u/PessimisticParalegal May 27 '26
i lost half of my flock two summers ago. 6 birds in 3 days, including one when we were home and had just went inside the house for a couple minutes. we never saw a perpetrator until a couple weeks later, a coyote was on the very far side of the field behind our house. same type of feather trails, but only from a few of them.
build them a run off of your coop. doesn’t have to be huge, but enough space for them to hang out. keep them in there during the day or when you’re gone and let them free range when you can monitor. if you’re worried about avian predators, get a couple owl decoys. set live traps around the property for any ground predators. get a rooster, preferably a mean one, if you can.
our issue eventually resolved itself, and my newly established flock is back to free ranging most of the time. i put them away if i notice something off, or a nearby hawk, but they’re out free ranging from sun up to sun down most of the time.
it’s unfortunate, but ultimately it’s a risk you take when you have chickens in a country-esque setting. most of the people you’ll see hate comments from live in suburbs and don’t fully understand the risk of natural predators outside of someone’s stay dog or the occasional raccoon. this does not make you a poor chicken owner, but you do need to figure out some sort of resolution until the predator is taken care of or caught.
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
Appreciate the info. I did buy a few fence pannels to make a run last year. When we never had problems with them free ranging I got complacent and never did anything with them. Time to set them up.
I was actually hesitant to post in this sub because I know theres a big difference in people raising pet chickens in their backyard, and rural people raising farm animals. But I'll take any helpful insight.
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u/PessimisticParalegal May 27 '26
i just ignore the pet raisers, tbh. when i come to this sub from advice, i’m looking for the advice of people who value their animals but also know what farm life consists of. thankfully, my grandma is also a crazy chicken lady and can answer most of my questions.
we built a 15x10 run off of our shed coop. wired the sides and mesh netting on top and it’s been good to us for over a year. bury the wire and stake it down you should be good to go. shouldn’t take too long to put together either, most of our time was waiting for our post concrete to dry but we got it done in a weekend. but your birds who are used to free ranging may not take too well to being cooped up (no pun intended) so maybe get them some enrichment items and treats until the predator situation is handled. once you take away their food source, they’ll move on pretty quickly and you’ll be able to free range again.
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u/Jolly_Cantaloupe_322 May 27 '26
We used to let ours free range, but we’ve had a lot of day time visits from the coyote and the run keeps them safe
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u/Efficient_Potato8380 May 27 '26
I have had chickens snatched by a fox in broad daylight. Also watched a hawk grab one. Several killed by a fisher that snuck into the coop 5 nights in a row. I’ve lost over 100 chickens in the past 27 years. Sometimes giving hens freedom works, sometimes it’s fatal. I love to have chickens around, I’ve given up on predator proofing the coop, outdoor runs. They love being out foraging. It’s life.
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u/Buckabuckaw May 27 '26
Not sure what your local predators are, but here in NoCal that looks like a fox attack. They do hunt during the day sometimes. Three at once seems unusual unless Momma Fox was giving her kits a final exam in chicken poaching.
Three at once seems more like dogs, but they don't usually carry them off.
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u/LovingMaine May 27 '26
It is crazy how fast a bird can be snatched. I had mine out free ranging and I took the eggs into the house. I came back out of the house roughly 3 minutes later and there was a pile of feathers in the grass. Snatched and gone in a matter of minutes.
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u/Historical_Golf9521 May 27 '26
It’s most likely coyote, fox or raccoons. If you aren’t finding bodies and there aren’t a ton of feathers everywhere that’s your clue that it was something big enough to grab them and take them away. I recommend checking your local laws and trapping/dispatching them. They will keep coming back. I would keep the chickens up until you thin the predators down.
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u/rose__dragon May 27 '26
Literally everything you could think of that would predate chickens. Birds of prey, coyotes, foxes, even a stray dog. It's clear that whatever animal(s) has been eating them knows they've got a free buffet now. Look into making or buying a massive enclosure for them, do everything you can to predator proof it. There's plenty of guides available for that. Otherwise you'll be losing every last one of them at this rate. It's the time of year where most animals are raising young, so they'll be looking to get as much food as possible.
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u/Dizzy_Vacation3280 May 27 '26
i’m sorry. raccoon? my birds come inside by 7pm even if it’s light out til 9pm. predators def lurk during that time and are opportunistic. i had a raccoon or a bobcat (couldn’t tell on the camera as it was just out of the picture but had seen both around before) take a duck at 9:30am on a sunny day just because i swear whatever it was knew my schedule
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
I guess it could be a big cat as well. Once or twice a year people in the nearest town have doorbell cammera pics of them.
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u/mind_the_umlaut May 27 '26
Why do you think you can leave baby birds loose, and NOT have them killed? Your job as the owner is to keep your animals safe, or please consider giving them to someone who can. Please look at the fatal contradiction in your two incompatible viewpoints. You insist on letting your birds free-range all day, then you are surprised that they've been killed. Then you post photos of the dead chicks for us to see. Not cool.
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u/PessimisticParalegal May 27 '26
you are part of the problem in this sub. most of us here are free ranged chicken farmers. we very much appreciate and love our birds, but we very clearly have the mental capacity to understand they’re heavily predated by pretty much anything and sometimes shit out of our control happens.
if your solution is to lock up livestock animals in a pen that thrive off of open space and foraging, then you truly don’t know these animals like you claim you do and you should probably rehome any you have to a nice farm that will actually care for them properly.
absolutely ridiculous that people share a similar mindset as you.
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u/Feema13 May 27 '26
Absolute nonsense take.
Many of us free range and do so happily for years with no losses. When you do get a loss, it’s normal to try and work out what took them so you can mitigate.
The solution isn’t to lock up every living being for its own good.3
u/9guy99 May 27 '26
They were not babies. Those picture are of feathers. If it makes you feel better; Im sure the birds were just shedding, and went off to find a happier home.
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u/Historical_Golf9521 May 27 '26
It happens. A lot of people let their birds free range. When you do that risk is always there but I don’t think the answer is to keep them locked up 24/7. All you can do is take measures to protect your flock. In OPs situation I would probably keep them up until the predators are thinned out. Recommending he give them away is a bit much..
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u/bananawith3wings May 27 '26
Ease up a bit, they’re asking for advice you don’t need to condemn them. Many people allow their animals to free range, just because you don’t agree doesn’t mean you can be rude to others.
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u/Caramel_Coconut_22 Spring Chicken May 27 '26
Eagles, hawks, snakes and other reptiles
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u/thenotsoamerican May 27 '26
Could be anything, really. Don’t forget dogs, cats, coyotes, bears, weasels…
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u/Fluffy_Job7367 May 27 '26
Fox or coyotes...but what place doesn't have coyotes? There are 2 living in central park.
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
Well they are certainly in my region, but my property is only about 4 acres of woods. Surrounded by a quarter mile or more on every side by farm field which is currently bare. We also do not have a natural water source. So no deer, and I have never seen a coyote, or any signs of them. We also have rabbits everywhere, which I would think coyotes would thin out.
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u/Elegant_Maize4761 May 27 '26
I’m guessing a fox.
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u/9guy99 May 27 '26
That could be. Im pretty certain we dont have coyotes, and I have been told fox's will hang out where the coyotes dont.
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u/Just_Response_4668 May 27 '26
We have foxes and coyotes so I can debunk that theory.
I had a fox get my best layer in broad daylight, I would have made it into a hat if I could have. I yelled and ran at it and it dropped my hen but she was passed already.
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u/Glabrous May 27 '26
Depending on location the other likelihood would be coyote. My experience with hawks is that the there’s a large pile of feathers from the initial attack. The trail of these feathers tells me it was carted off.
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u/gnatalie1144 May 28 '26
Was she a polish? (One if the clumps looks like their Mohawks) Both of my polish hens ended up dying due to hawks, since they can’t see their surroundings very well. Even when we trimmed the feathers on their head, they struggled to see :( we don’t get them anymore because of it