What is killing my hens?

If it was taken early in the morning (vs. at night) it could be a hawk. I had a hawk take 4 of my 8 week old chicks. The hawk took 2 on one day and attempted to take 2 more chicks 2 days later. All that the hawk left from each kill was just a few feathers. And I truly mean just a few feathers, almost hardly enough to notice if you weren't looking for them directly.

I know it was a hawk because I saw him eating one of the chicks the second time. He flew up from his kill into a tree and I scared him off as best I could. I went to where he had been and there was my baby chick, the head completely gone. Next to that was a different chick, just a few feathers remaining. Later up a little ways, I found another pile of feathers, again, just a few, nothing else. I never found the 4th pile of feathers.

So, a hawk is very thorough, leaving little behind. Maybe you interrupted your hawk and so what you found was what he had not eaten yet?

Hope this helps,
Guppy
 
It could be a Possum the other day I was trying to get my duck out of the water then a possum came into the light me and my sister scared it off but you always have to be careful if you see one it might have rabies and then it will try to bite you
 
Get a dog German shepards are good or a wiener dog they are protective and it's a weasel they mall there heads correct its crazy blood sucking brain eating monsters.
 
I'm hoping I'll be a bit more lucky now that next door has two jack russels living outside both chicken friendly and my nabour other nabour has a spaniel x rottweiler that has a pure hate for anything on his patch. Myself I have a south African boerboel who is chicken friendly but hates strangers his 89kg so doubt he'd catch a fox but he sure would kill one if he could. He would totally ignore a rat.
If raised with chickens dogs seem to be the most effective method of security for your flock while your not about in my opinion x
 
I have had a total of 36 chickens this year. They have an enclosed pen( top included so no birds can fly in or out) attached to their coop. Neighbor kids let some out without me knowing and my dog killed three. Then one morning my boyfriend and I found eight more dead. This time it wasn't my dog because he was in the house. Many were just gone. After that we sealed them completely in at night. Well today, we found two outside and one inside the coop dead. The one inside had its leg ripped off. There is no way my dog could get to them. What could it possibly be that killed them during the day and got them out of the coop? Please any info would be great!
 
I have had a total of 36 chickens this year. They have an enclosed pen( top included so no birds can fly in or out) attached to their coop. Neighbor kids let some out without me knowing and my dog killed three. Then one morning my boyfriend and I found eight more dead. This time it wasn't my dog because he was in the house. Many were just gone. After that we sealed them completely in at night. Well today, we found two outside and one inside the coop dead. The one inside had its leg ripped off. There is no way my dog could get to them. What could it possibly be that killed them during the day and got them out of the coop? Please any info would be great!
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It could be any number of things. Mink and raccoon come to mind first. I would suggest going over that coop and pen with a fine-tooth comb looking for any weak spots that could let a predator in. Gaps, loose fencing, tunnels where something could have dug in. A trail cam could help you identify your predator. A few strands of electric fence around the perimeter of your coop and run would be helpful in discouraging climbing predators.
 
I have had a total of 36 chickens this year. They have an enclosed pen( top included so no birds can fly in or out) attached to their coop. Neighbor kids let some out without me knowing and my dog killed three. Then one morning my boyfriend and I found eight more dead. This time it wasn't my dog because he was in the house. Many were just gone. After that we sealed them completely in at night. Well today, we found two outside and one inside the coop dead. The one inside had its leg ripped off. There is no way my dog could get to them. What could it possibly be that killed them during the day and got them out of the coop? Please any info would be great!
Coons can attack in daylight. I've had two daytime coon attacks on my flock in the last month. It will reach in and pull apart any bird it gets ahold of. If you can fit a few fingers through a space, a coon can get it's whole arm in.
 

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