RIP Miss Muffet

Tweetypie

Tweetypie

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I am absolutely heartbroken. This morning I looked out of the kitchen window, to see Miss Muffet lying down in the enclosure. I rushed out to find her with her head missing and neck missing. Some of her chest had been eaten. Her gizzards were in a different area, a couple of feet away.

She was located on the enclosure floor, 4 foot away from the large dustbath. The dust bath was covered in her feathers.

The coop had some feathers in there, too. She sleeps in the nest box, but there were more feathers than would be usual.

Her gizzards were near the small bay hedge, where the hens have also been digging!

No blood drops anywhere.

I have googled all the internet and it suggests a hawk or owl, of which there are some around, although rarely seen, because neighbours have a dog either side. Neighbours cats have never been interested, even when they used to free range on the garden.

Of course tonight the coop door is closed shut, but I don't even know if she was killed between 5.30pm on Friday up to 9am this morning. I was out walking until 7pm last night so it was dark when I got back and I would not have seen her if she was already dead.

Barbie and Mabel are both huddled in the nest box tonight, whereby they would always sleep together on the perch.

If anyone can help me establish what's killed her, so I can ensure I secure the enclosure appropriately. i.e. overhead mesh if you think it was a bird of prey. I've hardly stopped crying all day, I do love my hens, but Miss Muffet was such a huge, shy, creature.
 

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Oh Tweetipie, I’m so very sorry to read this. What a horrible thing to find. It’s bad enough when they go downhill and die gently, but an attack like this is much, much worse to bear. I’m glad whatever it was, only took one of them. Sending hugs ....

I would hazard a guess at fox - I’m afraid that your fence panel enclosure, although high, would just be like a climbing frame to a fox, if there’s no roof or overhead weld mesh to stop them jumping in and out. I’d imagine a hawk or owl is much less likely - I don’t think you get large enough species to tackle a fully-grown hen in your sort of area, certainly not a tawny owl or a barn owl, too big for a sparrow hawk, and red kites and buzzards hunt for dead prey, not living victims. They may take the odd chick or grower but I expect Miss Muffet would be out of their league.

I think you will need to up your security, because a fox will be back, for sure. Either by installing a roof, (panels or weld mesh) or using electric fence round the top and sides of the fence panels.
On the diagram, do you mean the 3ft mesh covers the bottom half of the panels but not the top part? Do I remember right, that the fence panels have open ‘windows’ so they are dividers rather than a solid surface? If so, maybe consider fixing weld mesh to cover the top half of them as well?
 
Hi Marigold, yes, they are open square panels with wire mesh in the enclosure, but not covered all over. I am going to do that.In the mean time I will close the coop at night. I don't know why the fox didn't take all 3, he must have gone into the coop,as there were feathers in there. The perch isn't high, he could have easily taken them all.

We have seen a hawk and there are buzzards not too far away, going into people's gardens, killing small birds. I just don't know, but I am not leaving it to chance. Any other day, I am at work and don't see them until 5 pm, so this was another part of bad luck, me finding her and that image is still in my mind.

What a dreadful day :-(
 
She was a normal - sized hybrid, wasn’t she? So about 2-3 kilos maybe? A badger might do this but would have had to dig its way up in under the panels, and presumably no sign of this?

Take care, - I hope you manage to get some sleep tonight xx
 
So sorry Tweetypie.
I wonder if it was a fox - maybe but whatever it was took one and then made a meal of her (sorry) without fussing over the others. Absolutely, though, whatever it was will be back for another go so go for Fort Knox defences even if its a smaller area than ideal for the time being.
 
So very sorry to hear this Tweetypie. I know how awful it is losing hens to a predator attack. Sending hugs.
 
Aw, sorry to hear this Tweetypie. It must be awful to find something like this. rip, Miss Muffet.
 
How absolutely awful, I am so sorry, it sounds more like, Fox, Weasel or Stoat. Most birds of prey that would take a hen, like a Peregrine would grab it and take it away to a quiet place, they don't usually behead them either. RIP Miss Muffet
 
Hi all

Her head was missing and neck, but all her body and feathers were intact, except some bits missing from her chest. Mabel and Barbie are moulting, so some of the feathers in the dustbath could be theirs. I just don't know. There's no holes underground and no wire mesh disturbed, it is all intact. We checked everything in detail, so I know it's not a badger and don't think it's a fox as I am certain it would have taken all 3 ??

Muffet was a very large hen, almost twice as big as Barbie and Mabel. That made her an easy target, being a slow mover, I guess. :-(
Not sure what to do as I have read that weasels and stoats can get through 1" holes, so how can they ever be safe? :-( I'm also concerned that I now only have 2 and if one of those died...

Sorry for sounding so negative, I don't know how to prevent this recurring or what to do first.
 
Upgrade Tweetiepie! You could recycle the inch panels with 1/2" over the top. On a solid base 1/2" square even gives mice a hard time. Put a roof on and go get two young pullets to add to the crew (or rescue another couple!) A lot of hard work out of the blue but its permanent and its good to know that the run door is shut and nothing can happen overnight or while your out. It only needs to be big enough for 4 - they can come out whenever its safe enough and the predators will take one look at your awesome run and quickly lose interest.
 
Good advice, Rick, especially about the roof.
You say ‘they are open square panels with wire mesh in the enclosure.’ Do you mean the mesh is fixed to the inside of the panels? If so, you also need to fix the mesh to the outside of your wooden frames, (not the inside, because predators could use the lower edges of the wooden ‘window frames’ in the fence panels for toe holds to climb up and over the top.)
You could perhaps make a weldmesh roof, which would be secure if on a wooden framework, or maybe take the opportunity to put on a more solid roof that would keep the run lovely and dry. Possibly, as I think Rick is suggesting, if the area is too big to be roofed all over, make a smaller, more secure inner run area, with roof and improved 1/2” mesh sides, safe at night and when you’re out, big enough for winter days, late afternoons and early mornings, when they want to come out of the coop. Then leave the present fence panels in place, perhaps with infill using 1/2” mesh as Rick suggests?

Some photos of the run would be helpful, to remind us. I know it looked really lovely in the pics you posted previously.
 
Its the timber frame that's the most work and its easier, of coarse, to make a low run 4m x 2m with a sloping roof than it is for a 3 x 3 that is walk in, Once you have a good frame then putting a light corrugated roof on it is no more trouble or expense (give or take a little) than supporting mesh. I think 3 inch mesh with 1/2 inch over is gold standard ideal for the sides but as you have 1 inch already might as well use it. If you dont have much time with work at the moment then knock up a simple frame with 1/2" even if its a fair bit too small. 1/2" is actually pretty tough if its well fixed. The wider run, for when you're around, can be very simple - just net on posts or something similar to stop them easily trashing you're garden. I think we are suggesting the 'Don't get mad, get even' approach. If you're making something temporary then it doesn't have to be neat - the less trimmed it is then the better you will be able to re-use the mesh later with something better planned when there is more time.
 
Hi all
I have been pondering all week how to do this and in the mean time, I have kept them enclosed in their coop at night. I still think it was a bird of prey as I remember seeing a smaller type, like a kestrel or falcon, blatantly sat on the fence looking in. That was several months ago. I always put a maize on a skewer for the girls to pick at, but Miss Muffet was the only one who ate it and I feel she was exposed to the predator and that's how she met her demise. :-(.

I do need to cover the run overhead with mesh wire, so any bird of prey wouldn't be able to get in. I am also thinking of barbed wire around the top of the edge of the fence, so it won't be nice for predators to sit on or climb over ;-)

The OH thinks that getting those wire mesh panels to fix to the existing fence is being overkill and very expensive, but that's what I prefer. Might have to use wire mesh instead and fix to the outside as suggested to me. It will be me paying for it. Sigh.

Its not easy when you are at work all week and try to google for the best deals, but I am determined to get it done pronto.
Thank you all for your kind words.
 
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