Missing birds

[Masterfincher]

Hi all,
I am stumped! I have an indoor holding aviary, in the back corner of my shed. It had about 45 finches in it yesterday about 5 pm when I last looked, now there are only 21! I can't see any holes in it, it has a double door - both were shut when I went out this morning. No dead finches on the ground, no body parts or feathers around, nothing seams amiss - apart from 25 birds missing! What could it be?
I thought - snake - but it would still be in there, with 20 odd birds in it, it couldn't fit out the wire, surely.
- rats - I imagine there would be bits of body left
- escape - no visible ways out, and, if they did escape, I would expect to see at least a few hanging around my outside aviaries, but none are there.
- -butcher birds - plenty of room for my finches to keep away from the wire, and again, no body parts.
Only seems to leave theft. Any other ideas? My other 4 outdoor aviaries aren't missing any birds; admittedly, they would be hard to catch/steal during the night, but quite easy to catch in my 2x1.5 metre holding aviary. None of my aviaries are locked, just heavy duty latches. All aviaries are in the back yard, not visible to the public/from the road.
Lastly, not sure if it may be relevant, but my 2 Maltese cross terrier dogs were not looking their normally energetic selves this morning, and weren't interested in their food - very unusual for them.
Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks. I really don't want to lose more tonight!

[COUNTRY CAPITAL]

sorry to hear that masterfincher.
have you had any buyers/tire kickers to your aviaries recently?
are the remaining birds in the holding aviary spooked/frightened when you go near them?
are the remaining birds the cheap ones? or a mixture of what was there.
seems to me that human intervention is the most likely cause(theft).
hope your dogs are ok.

[Craig52]

Agree with CC as i had the same done to me a long time ago. I suggest your dogs were doped,fed something. The suspicious part with my dog was that it had died just weeks before the theft.
Locking your aviaries will only keep honest people out but lock them anyway. Sorry to hear this, what species have disappeared? Craig

[finchbreeder]

Unfortunately if the pooches were lethargic and all other possibilitys are pretty well not on. Then theft does sound like a probability. If a night theft, could have been selective, or just pot luck, cashing in. Happened to my mother 13 yrs ago. And she had locks, they bought wire cutters, was definately planned in her case.
LML

[elferoz777]

Think who has been to youe birds recently?

Any new arrivals you've told people about?

What type of birds went?

[Masterfincher]

Thanks, yep, I think it must be theft - about a dozen Gouldians, 8 RH stars, 3 Cubans, and a BH nun were taken; a few gouldians and stars left, but more noticeably, no Bengalese and other young BH nuns were taken - not colourful enough maybe?
I'll try the locks, but as stated, if they want to break in, I don't think a lock will stop them.
And I've only shown one person in the last few months; I'll make some discreet inquiries and see if he has suddenly got into finches again after many years without.
My dogs are fine now, back to their energetic selves. Cross my fingers more finches haven't disappeared in the morning.
Thanks for the replies.

[Greg41]

Locks might not stop them, but it is a good indicator to show if it was theft.

Cheers Greg.

[the diver]

I never have strangers into my back yard to purchase birds, and only give birds to friends or deal with the local pet shop.
Also installed movement activated lights (not shinning directly into aviaries) some 20 years ago.
Geoff

[elferoz777]

invest in a decent dog.

My lab is a hunting dog and protective. He would eat the poison and still rip the poop out of anyone who entered the yard. He would wait til bed time to get tired.

More importantly he would bark like mad as soon as someone got onto my yard that he didnt know.

The fact your dogs didnt initially bark and growl indicates two things, 1) you may not have been home when this happened and/or 2) you know the person well enough for them not to bark.

No offence but goulds and the other mentioned arent worth stealing in my books unless they are rare mutations or something like that. Only an uneducated person would risk it for those birds or a complete drop kick.

[Tiaris]

Whoever does it could still get some easy cash from a bird dealer for a box full of birds of the species taken. I'd check the local petshops, etc for any distinctive birds of yours.
Locks may not stop a determined thief, but they would certainly slow them down and make a break-in much noisier than without locks. No locks is as good as an open invitation for prospective thieves.