Is this from a hawk?

[kaywould]

I’ve had a few ducks killed lately. The head and tail and wings gone. Sometimes when I’ve gone outside lately all the chickens are gone. Usually they free range but I’ll go out sometimes and the chicks aren’t outside and they aren’t in the run (where food and water are) but they are all hiding in the coop. 2 flocks do this an the ducks are hiding in their pen. We have some neighbor dogs around (no fences) but they very rarely come in our yard. They know we have dogs so they generally stay away. We do have some hawks. This is always in the middle of the day. We have coyotes and foxes and raccoons and possums but I never see them in the daytime.

Here are some pictures of a runty duck that survived. That wound is on the back near the tail.

 

[kaywould]

The duck that was attacked also injured its leg and was limping for weeks afterward. Finally is starting to walk normally

 

[Zoomie]

It's hard to say. The wound could have been caused by about anything. What did your kill sites look like? Generally with a bird of prey, they sit on the carcass and pull out a bunch of feathers, so there is kind of a messy pile, but all the feathers are dry. Hawks don't slobber.

I can't really tell, but are the feathers on the duck kind of wet? That would indicate a dog... they grab with their mouth and leave slobber.

In any event if you can, leave your flock locked up in runs/pens so the predators can't get them. Sounds like *something* is after them.

 

[kaywould]

I’ve been keeping them locked up but I hate it and they hate it. I’m 99% (can never be 100%) that my dog didn’t do it but I never can see the kill site because each time we only found the carcass because my dog was chewing on it in the front yard.
I saw I’m pretty sure because he finds dead carcasses from things I killed and I find him chewing on them and he’s around the chickens all the time and never interested in them and he’s even fine around chicks and ducklings.
So, I’m keeping everyone locked in till I figure it out. Even since keeping them locked in I’ve gone out and everyone is not in the run but in the coop. Two coops doing it, so something is still coming around and freaking them out but can’t get to them. Both times this happened my dogs were in the house.

 

[kaywould]

The feathers were wet

 

[XanderWiFi]

It appears to be a larger tooth puncture wounds.

Hawks grasp and if slip, rake and slice flesh. They also wrench and tear with their beaks.

Cat tooth punctures are barely noticeable. Usually an abscess opens later after those.

Is this a dead duck or one still living? Viewing the rest of the body may help. Dogs will bite and thrash typically. Are you finding bodies eaten or intact but ripped up?

 

[kaywould]

The duck survived. It also had an injured leg which healed after a few weeks. Gave the duck away to someone who bought a few ducks from me, wanted to get down to all one breed. That lone puncture was the only puncture I found. Amazingly it never got sick and other than being a runt, is seemingly normal.

 

[Zoomie]

Well, with the added info I would say a dog or other canid. I'm sorry your chickens are so scared, it can take them a while to get over the shock. Also if it was a dog, and I'm not saying it was yours, but if it was a dog it is quite reasonable of them to be scared of any other dog including yours. I hope they settle down and I hope you are able to solve the problem and stop the deaths.

 

[kaywould]

Appreciate the info. I'm keeping my ducks penned up for a while. They haven't started laying again yet. I'm not letting them out again till I have a bunch of eggs I can incubate just in case something happens. I'm also keeping my chickens penned up for the time being. Hopefully in the meantime whatever is getting them will loose interest and find somewhere to look for food. If it ends up being my dog then I've got quite a battle with my wife and kids on what to do with that dog.

 

[happyfrenchman]

That looks (to me) just like a talon puncture wound. Anything that had the bird in it's mouth, the bird would not have survived. A hawk will pin them down and hold/knife them with it's talons. Blood loss is the usual method of killing and sometimes they start eating before the prey is dead. Your bird was somehow able to shake it off and survived the puncture.