Kill but don't eat

[honeynajar]

I started out my winter season with 42 chickens and 9 guineas. I am now down to 19 chickens and 9 guineas. My coop is secure, but I would find a chicken dead in the woods or in the yard very evidently with it's neck broke. What predator would kill but not eat? TIA.

 

[justplainbatty]

I started out my winter season with 42 chickens and 9 guineas. I am now down to 19 chickens and 9 guineas. My coop is secure, but I would find a chicken dead in the woods or in the yard very evidently with it's neck broke. What predator would kill but not eat? TIA.

Wandering dogs is one.

 

[Chickenshoe]

I wont have much tolerance to uncontrolled dogs, .22 comes out......

 

[drewskimac]

I hate to say it, but if your coop is secure then you wouldn't be having the problem. I'm going to have to say that it sounds like Raccoon's have found a way into your chicken pen. I've had the same problem before - i thought that my coop was secure, and i had no chickens killed for about a year, and them BAM! One night 2 chickens disappeared, the next night 3 disappeared and 2 were left dead in the pen, and the next night 5 disappeared and 5 were left dead in the chicken pen. The 5 that were left all had one thing in common... They were decapitated. At this point i was EXTREMLY angry, and it took me 3 hours of investigation until i finally realized that the coons' were getting into the chicken pen because there was 5 feet of fencing that wasnt secured to one side of the roof. So, it looked flush, but when you pressed your hand against it there was a hole big enough for a raccoon to drop through, and the coop lay directly beneath this hole. The Raccoon's had been using their body weight to drop them into the hole, and then climbed out the same way. I set up a ground blind that night, and killed 7 Raccoon's in a 3 day period. (What i did was completely legal in my area, so i would recommend you check with your game and fish commission before you do anything). Your issue is probably Raccoon's, and they will continue killing your chickens until you make it impossible for them to do so. And unfortunately, there are probably a lot of them. Oh, and a lot of people will say "use a live trap". Well, from my experience... if the raccoon's are smart enough to get into your "secure" chicken pen, they are not anywhere near stupid enough to go into the trap. They will reach their paws right in the back. Good luck!

 

[19disbre]

I am a trapper. Sounds like you have a mink or weasel. post a picture an I can help better