Dietary Question

[YoungBuck14]

ok i'm having another problem with some varmit killing my mama's chickens again. The last encounter ended with a dead coyote but this one has got me stumped. I'm not sure when the varmit in question is killing them but i'm guessing it is usually during the daytime hours. Our chickens are free range and this is what has gotten them caught so now they are being locked up. I have found the spots in the woods behind our house where serveral chickens have been eaten and they are nearly all at the base of mesquite trees with some sort of ground cover around them such as cactus or sticker bushes. Also around there spots i have found droppings of some animal. The droppings contain mostly skins and seeds from cactus apples, and some have a little hair. Do Bobcats or Coyotes eat cactus apples commonly?? So any help on what might be killing the chickens and hints on how to kill it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx in advance and good hunting

[royinidaho]

Coyotes around here eat plenty of russian olives. They'll eat about anything. I don't think cats will....

Sounds like you have an interesting project....

[Lilred]

I dont know nary a thing bout Texas nor cactus apples...but I do know that there's been a many a wild boar here been the cause of dead chickens but they dont eat em that i know of...might be somethin else gittin em after the kill...like a coon er somethin. I caint even explain why boar would kill chickens...but my uncle's had a similar problem..come to find out..best we could figure...was that the chickens was eatin somethin they wanted or got to close where they was feedin. Uncle killed 3 boar out of the group and the chicken killin stopped fer a while till the big cat started killin em. Most of our chicken killers round here are bobcat, fox, yotes, cougar and the like.

The boar might not be your problem...but just another idea.
Roy is right tho....them ole yotes will eat just bout anything.

[Deerqueen]

Coyotes may be your culprit. They would eat cactus apples. Scat with fur and skins in it (Look like dog scat in shape?????) also sounds like a coyote. Could also be fox check the tracks..That will tell you...very SERIOUSLY doubt that it would be a cat. They only like meat.. Doubt a pig would drag something off like that and scat description does not does not sound right for a pig.

[Andy L]

Do you have many coons around? They are coon killin fools. Foxes are pretty bad too. Coyotes will eat anything. They will catch them outside, but I seriously doubt if they get them locked up. Probably coon, maybe fox....

[Deerqueen]

A fox will go into a coop and get them whe they are locked up. Once again..get a field guide with track ids and check the tracks. That will tell the culprit.

[YoungBuck14]

thanks for the help. I will definitally appreciate any more advice. i would love to check tracks but in order for me to find any i will need to get some moisture cause tracks don't show up so well on rock hard west texas ground. the scat looks mostly tubular but it seems like it would be a lot of poop for a coon. would a coon catch a chicken free range or in a coop given these are full grown hens and now our dominate rooster all of which put up enough fight i have trouble catching them.

thanks again and good hunting