6 dead chicks...only gizzards neatly left

[98cwitr]

Hello and I wish I could say it's good to be here, but I just lost 6 of my chicks and my poor children are heartbroken. The rest of the internet didn't seem to help, so here I am. I'm in NC, and we have our share of hawks, foxes, raccoons, snakes, etc that pose a threat to backyard chickens. So I reinforced the cage and coop the best my budget would allow. Top covered with wire to keep the birds of prey out. Woke up this morning after a single day with new chicks and they were not to be found. No sign of forced entry or disturbed fencing. Upon further inspection, I found 5 of 6 gizzards neatly left. No feathers or other body parts remained. There was a little blood on some hay, which was cold but had not dried, so they were probably all killed between 3 and 5AM. The gizzards were left exactly where they all were last night before we went in for the night. I'd just like some ideas of what kind of predator I'm dealing with. I'll lock the next flock up in the coop next time and set up a IR cam to keep an eye on them. What do y'all think did it?

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

cats usually leave random organs
could it be that?

 

[picklestheduck]

Hmm that’s odd. So sorry for your losses. Yeah maybe a cat of some kind?

 

[98cwitr]

cats usually leave random organs
could it be that?

Very possible, but cats would usually leave feathers behind?

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

Very possible, but cats would usually leave feathers behind?

soft feathers probably not
hard wing feathers yeah, usually. I've seen our cats eat feathers and then hack them up later.

 

[picklestheduck]

Yeah, my cat eats hair and downy feathers. How old were the chicks?

 

[SilverBirds]

How old were the chicks?

 

[Cryss]

Is it possible you have a two legged predator?

 

[Finnie]

My first thought was cat as well. But how would the cat get in?

Are you sure there are no holes? Not just fence holes, but ground holes/tunnels. Maybe a rodent.

 

[98cwitr]

Yeah, my cat eats hair and downy feathers. How old were the chicks?

How old were the chicks?

A few weeks. They were quite young. Poor little girls.

Did go back out there and found two wings buried in the hay. Whatever it was, those little biddies didn't stand a chance.