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Very Powerful ,Ate Head and Neck.

post #1 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:08am
Thread Starter 

I am in a daze, just lost my first bird.  I live in NY right outside the city of White Plains,have everything from coytoes to raccoons. Don't have stray dogs because of coytoes. Something last night ripped coop door off it"s hinges. It killed 1 hen out of 5 eating head and neck only. What ever killed her ,ate her in the coop and left the body.What is that powerfull but only eats a small amount?

Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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post #2 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:13am
You can read this sticky at the top of the Predator section. Not all predators read the book and go by what is standard, but that sure sounds like a raccoon to me.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/18670/poultry-predator-identification
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand  (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)
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Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand  (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)
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post #3 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:27am
Thread Starter 

Raccoon was my first thought but are they that powerfull? Srews holding hinges was pulled out of the wood.

Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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post #4 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:32am

Is it possible it was a bear?

We have a dozen different breeds of chickens and we love them all!

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We have a dozen different breeds of chickens and we love them all!

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post #5 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:34am
Thread Starter 

Very very rare   in 20 years only 2x where bears spotted here.  A bear would eat the whole bird rght?

Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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Forgive your enemies -- it messes with their heads.

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post #6 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:35am

 

There are a couple of news articles on the web about bears getting in chicken coops but it looks like they did more damage, and left the carcasses strewn about

We have a dozen different breeds of chickens and we love them all!

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We have a dozen different breeds of chickens and we love them all!

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post #7 of 8
3/26/12 at 5:50am

Is there claw marks? If it was say a coyote it would have to claw at door edges, there would be a lot of claw marks. The only critter with hands is a raccoon, wouldn't be many scratches.

 

How long were the screws for hinges? How solid is the wood it was screwed to? Here in northern climates male racoons are easily 30 lbs. That's a powerful animal. The record found in wild is 62 lbs but that's a fluke.


Edited by Egghead_Jr - 3/26/12 at 5:58am

There's so little to fear from hatching even chickens dare. In fact, it's so easy a turkey can do it.

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There's so little to fear from hatching even chickens dare. In fact, it's so easy a turkey can do it.

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post #8 of 8
3/26/12 at 6:06am

We had problems years ago with possum getting into the coop and eating the heads off one chicken after another.  I caught it in the act and took care of it. 

 

Recently I saw a possum in our barn right outside was the coop.  I couldn't get a hold of a gun without going to the house so it was gone by the time I got back.  A few days later we lost another hen that had been sleeping in a tote laying box on the floor of the coop as it was molting real bad.  I hadn't closed up the chickens entry door into the coop so it would have been easy for the possum to go in.  Its head and neck was gone too.

4 horses, 21 Araucanas, 6 blue marans and a whole bunch of mutt chickens.

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4 horses, 21 Araucanas, 6 blue marans and a whole bunch of mutt chickens.

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BackYard Chickens › BYC Forum › Raising BackYard Chickens › Predators and Pests › Very Powerful ,Ate Head and Neck.