Help me identify what killed my chicken in my backyard - missing head and crop, killed during the da

[ittybittykitty]

I came home to a dead chicken and want to know what it was so we can predator proof appropriately.
The chicken body was found near the fence, which is a common place they hang out.
The body was missing the head, neck, gullet and innards.
The predator took those parts up to a railing height planter on the deck and ate all of those parts. I think I found part of the crop on the ground.
Feathers were all over the yard, but that could have been assisted by wind.
The attack happened sometime between 10 and and 5 pm.
We do have a 50 lb dog in the yard with the hens (never an issue between her and the hens), so whatever it was had to be quiet enough not to wake her in the laundry room or scary enough that she didn't chase it off.
We have 3 other hens that it didn't touch. All were free ranging our small back yard.
We live north of San Francisco, CA in a small city, so there are lots of houses around us and open space is a ways a way.
We have since built an enclosure, but some of the wire has holes that are 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Depending on the size of the predator, this might not be sufficient. This happened over a month ago and we haven't had any other issues.

We also have two chihuahuas, one is small and old. I am now too worried to leave him in the yard, even with the other dogs since he is smaller and slower than the silkie that was killed (she was our biggest hen).

Any ideas of what this predator may have been? Some of the kill signs point to certain animals, but those tend to be nocturnal. I'm hoping someone with more experience will know exactly who the culprit was. We would hate to loose another of our girls. They are more pets than egg producers for us.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kazoo1111]

Well to me it sounds like a coon or fox. If you don't have a dog get one and it will scare everything away!

 

[BunkyB]

I will ask if you are by a body of water. If close to I would say mink. They will drag a corpse till it cannot be dragged any more. They go for the heads first, separating itThen they work towards the innards. Those would fit through a hole in a fence or a chain link fence easily.

They are relentless buggers and 1 mink can kill an entire flock before he decides to eat one. Hope I am wrong but... A live trap around the exact area where your last hen was killed. Mink are creatures of habit and follow their paths, routine. Hang a piece of the already dead chicken or even a can of oysters inside the trap and it may entice him to go for it.
Mating time for those buggers as well. More aggressive to collect food. Other options are leg traps, poison, anti-freeze(car) in a dish. All by the fence again... Hope this helps. It or they will come back until there is no more to be had.. Best of luck, Steve

 

[BunkyB]

And the obvious ,. If I am right , make sure any traps that are set up are chicken proof. No more accidents needed. Leg traps are deadly for cats and dogs too. Anti freeze is poisonous for any animal to drink. Check your coop area and cover all holes as small as 2 inches. Mink can squeeze into very small holes and cracks.... Steve

 

[ldyshrk]

Like I said in the post we have a 50 lb dog in the yard with them all day while we are away. She has access to the laundry room so whatever it was was quiet enough to not alarm her in the close by laundry room or scared her enough to stay away.

I thought coon, but it was day time. I've never seen a single raccoon running around this city, even at night. I know they are here, but do they ever hunt in the day?
I also thought weasel, but are they day hunters? There is a large river that comes into the city from the bay. We aren't next to it, but within a mile.
Then I thought small hawk - would a hawk to that?
In terms of the enclosure I am most worried about weasel. They are slinky suckers.

 

[MsDachshund]

Hawks or opossums. I have caught those predators in the act. That was the results. If the hawk is young and chicken kinda hefty they can't carry it off and will take it apart in pieces.

 

[MsDachshund]

One thing about hawks I forgot to mention. They are fast and dispatch their victims very quickly. The one I saw the got mine, I was in the yard and didn't hear a thing! I just happened to go over to the chickens a saw the murder with hawk still there. If your dog didnt hear a thing, I would say it was definitely a hawk.

 

[BunkyB]

I kind of misread the description of the body parts taken up to a railing. I would ixnay the mink and probably lean towards the hawk idea now. I thought all you found was near the fence. Being from Eastern Canada we do not have such an issue as you would with hawks. Our issues here are the barn owls, horned owls and eagles. I have lost my share of birds to a bald eagle... Such a characteristic of the mink or weasel is to degut the bird . I didn't think about a hawk doing the same, bummer. Good luck and catch the vermin Steve

 

[ldyshrk]

I would relieved to hear it was a hawk. As long as we can stop them from swooping down then the hens should be ok. We can easily do this by making a chicken run along the side of the house. I would think a weasel would be pretty hard to deter. MsDachshund, I hope you are right. That was my first thought, but most people think the hawk would take the whole bird. But the hawk in the city areas aren't that big. I grew up in the country, no neighbors, big trees. Those hawks could carry away a cat no problem, but I don't see that size hawk here that frequently.

Thank you all for the replies. All of the information is very helpful

 

[ldyshrk]

Also, I wasn't clear about the fence. The fence is a solid wood fence, not chain link. The compost is near the fence, that is why the chickens hang out there.