My first ever predator death. :'( What did it?

[B. Saffles Farms]

Quote:
Ew! That's exactly what it looks like happened. I've never even seen a weasel before. I assume we have them in KY right?

Do they come back for more?

Something could dig into my run, but I don't think anything could get into the coop as long as the doors are latched and the pop door to the run is closed...

Yes you have them in KY too. They will come back for more, just be sure to close up your coop at night and they should be fine.

 

[Andora]

I'm so heartbroken, I can't believe she's gone.

Wasn't she pretty with her head still attached?

Her favorite thing to do was to sit in the clubhouse area at the top of the slide on my toddler's swing set and eat cracked corn from her hands. Then the chicken would slide down the slide, my daughter thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Not to be grafic or any thing, but I am a critter pro, been around them all my life. This raelly could have been any of a number of wild animals. The very first thing most any critter eats on a bird is it's head, due to the brains, Dont know what it is, protein, fat content or something, but the just love brains.
I had a fox get into a grow out pen a few years back and he killed 50+ 4 month old show quaility silkies, yep ate nothing but the heads, Caught it the next night.
Sure hate you lost it, they dont pick the best one, they just grap what they can get. Stinks I know.
Since that night. I keep electric fence around all my birds and knock on wood, havent lost any since.
Aubrey

By the way, dogs and cats will do it too, especially wild house cats, they are horrible about it.

 

[Cetawin]

First...she was a beautiful girl indeed. I love my SFs and all the others too. I would ne heartbroken as well.

Well here is my take...

Raccoon or a weasel as the predator...my bet is for the raccoon.

As for the body being dragged a bit...that is either predator's inclination if they do not feel secure where they are eating the kill.

It is a wife's tale that chickens run when you cut their heads off. The muscle spasms and so forth cause flopping and so forth.

 

[Griffox]

As much as we love our pet chickens, it's hard to remember that they are at the bottom of the food chain. We do the best we can to protect them, but sometimes these things just happen. I'm sure more than one shepherd has fallen asleep only to find one of his sheep killed on waking. Instead of beating yourself up for your one human moment, be proud of all the nights your chicks have been safely tucked away in their cozy coop.

 

[Chicks R Friends NOT Food]

That sounds exactly like what happened to mine!

I had 6 chickens, in 2 different coops. All killed and left in one night.
I had 2 colombian of an unknown breed (Sassy and Lily), a white silkie (Marshmellow), and a brown bantum of unknown/silkie mix (Bambi)- all hens- then I had a rooster that lived with them who was a silver-laced wayandotte (Ninja Turtle). My other rooster (Tiger) was a Barred Plymouth Rock and he was pretty big and really really mean (he bit me so hard one time I was giving him water- he made me bleed). It was in the winter and the doors got frozen open one night. Something small enough to get in like a 1x2 inch (?) rectangle got in the fencing and killed all of them in one night. It was so gross, 2 of the bodies were hidden in a 4-inch space behind the hen boxes, 3 were outside, 1 head missing and never found, and 2 others next to the bodies. There was almost no blood except on Tiger- his was all around him. It was so sad and I felt like it was all my fault and it took me a long time to get over it. I stil have nightmaes about things trying to get my chickens.
I found out that most likely it was a weasel. And the picture looks just like what I found I'm really sorry that you had to find it too. She looked like a pretty bird. At least it didn't kill them all though.
I would definately never leave it open again because if it learned that there was food there it'll be back. I saw tracks in fresh snow by my chicken coop a week or 2 ago? I knew they weren't chickens because they hadn't been out yet. I find it disapointing that all the dog "scent" shall we say all around the yard didn't keep it away like most things.

 

[Chirpy]

I just wanted to say I'm sorry that you had to experience this. Don't beat yourself up, we all make mistakes and forgetting to lock up our chickens at night is an easy one that many here have done.

 

[Imp]

Sorry Andora,
My vote is for Raccoon as well. The only predator loss I ever had was several years ago. Same thing, only it happened between 3 and 5pm, hot summer afternoon, with me being within 15 feet. I never saw or heard a thing. I just noticed that everything got quiet. after a couple minutes I started looking around and found the stupid hen beheaded. It tried to drag the body over the fence. Don't feel bad about forgetting the door, we've all done it on occasion.

Imp/Russ

PS the raspberries are starting to bud out. Won't be too long.

OK Upon reading my post, I want to add the hen wasn't stupid for being killed, rather she was a less than smart hen. Wasn't afaid of anything and probably walked up to the raccoon and stuck her head in its mouth.

Imp

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I bet it was a racoon too.. That is exactly what happened to one of my pigeons.. And I caught the racoon in the act and it ran off..

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

It's funny to me to see how many threads have coons blamed as the killers, yet I live here in boggy swampy coon heaven south Georgia, and have never had one remotely attempt to get into anything, they seem to be more content to do their natural thing which is to walk the swamps fro crayfish , frogs and fish.
Dont get me wrong, I know they can do it and a lot of you have seen them do it, I just.... I dont know, this is more fox and bobcat stuff to me, I've never seen coons as the chicken killer type