[Daydream Believer]

As I was doing chores this morning I found that my month old broilers that are still inside a permanent coop were attacked. I lost at least three. Something whose prints look like a medium sized dog literally dug under the wall to get to them.

It did not eat the chickens it killed...just eviscerated them and left bodies lay. That is why I feel it is probably a domestic dog rather than a coyote. Any thoughts?

My neighbors have a dog that they let run loose that is about that size..medium... and it has stolen cat food and been a nuisance for a while. They are not responsible and let their dogs run loose a lot. They also get into the neighbors (not the dog's owners...other neighbors) trash a lot.

I'm going to call Animal Control in a few minutes and see if I can get a humane trap and see if it comes back tonight. Meanwhile I'll rig up some electric wire around the base of my walls to prevent this from happening again. I never imagined anything would dig into my coop like that but the floors are dirt.

I am housing the chickens in a large stall in a shed row barn until next week when my portable coop and poultry netting (electric) paddock comes available. I have an older batch of broilers to process next week in that pen now. Interestingly the attacker left my chickens that were inside the poultry netting alone and went after the ones in the shedrow.

I'm just really pissed. I thought about sitting out there tonight with a rifle but thought the trap would be easier. It also is not a good area to be shooting with lots of buildings and horses around. If I do catch the neighbors dog, doggie and I can go for a one way ride somewhere like to the shelter.

[Tiki]

Then there's SSS.

[Daydream Believer]

Yes, I have a loaded 22 by the kitchen door now and more ammo handy. Goddamn dog is dead if I see it over here trying to get into my chickens again. Those chickens are income to me. Not only that but such waste..just to kill for fun.

[MistyBlue]

Not a coyote, they don't kill things and leave them there. They eat them, gobble them down in large pieces without chewing to keep something else from stealing their kill (they stink at protecting food) or to avoid getting caught and later on in a safe spot will regurgitate and chew the food if necessary.

Dogs are one of the very few animals that kill for fun. A raccoon might also kill multiple chickens and only eat a few choice parts of each and leave the rest since they're not good at carrying off decent sized meals.

Poor chooks. Sorry for your losses DDB and keep an eye out for that dog in case that was the culprit.

[Daydream Believer]

Mistyblue...that is what I thought too...has to be a dog. There are paw prints that show it is canine...whatever did this....definitely way bigger than a coon.

I just got in from repairing the wall where it dug in...buried boards to make it harder for the animal to get in there again and ran an electric wire along the baseboard of the building. What a PITA to have to do this! So now, I'll have to turn off the electric fence just to feed the broilers and my little hen biddies that are brooding in the next stall. So glad the animal did not get my Welsumer hen chicks. They are about a week old now and in the stall beside the little broilers that were attacked.

I am still waiting to hear from Animal Control about the trap. Hopefully at least now I hopefully won't lose any more chickens but I think I'll talk to Mr. DDB about putting one of our barncams out there on a motion detector. We've done that before and caught the neighbors POS mutts over here stealing cat food.

I wish I could figure out a way to put an alarm out there so I could get up and shoot whatever it is in the act.

[leilatigress]

Air horn and a trip wire do wonders for an alarm system. It take a bit of experiment to get it rigged correctly but it can be done. Scares the intruder and lets you know something was out there. I've also used one of those toys that has a motion detector and a loud obnoxious noise attached to it. Learned that to keep my brother out of my room.
http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Planet-70...8020971&sr=1-6
Product with the best reviews. I do not recommend the doll toys as those are not loud enough if you are farther than a few yards and I have had them taken by the dogs and dismembered. Nothing like finding a few arms and legs in the yard at o dark thirty without really being awake.

[MistyBlue]

Actually, you can get an alarm for pretty cheap and really easy to put in. Check online for remote driveway alarms. It's a small little plastic thing that shoots an eyebeam out. Whenever anything crosses that beam a unit in the house sounds a loud beep.
They're only about $60-$70. You can set one up on the side of your coops/fences you think the raider will use, and set it low in height. Keep the interior unit by your bed at night.

Or you can use a baby monitor. Turn the small unit on and bungee it in with the chickens. Bring the receiver in and put it by your bed. The noise the chickens make when being attacked will definitely wake a person up. They even make baby monitors for about $100 now with cameras set in the receiver so you can see what's making noise.

If the distance is too far for a baby monitor, buy a double set of walkie talkies...about $20-$80 depending on the range and brand. Turn one on in the coop area and keep the other on your night table turned on to the same frequency. If it's a push button type without a lock, just tape the button down on the chicken end.

Hope this helps!

[Daydream Believer]

Great ideas! Thanks! I will do that!

Animal Control is bringing me by a dog trap later today also. Hopefully I can catch this dog and take it for a little ride to the shelter.

[Eventer55]

Since you saw the tracks and the hole it dug, this may not help, but I lost a number of Bantams to a weasel one time. Same M.O. it just killed them and left them. A neighbor said they drink the blood, but don't eat the meat. . .

We eventually saw the weasel, but too late for my bantams.