Predator that eats only the neck but leaves the spine and head intact. Help Identify please.

[Willem Da Crow]

We found one of our chickens whose neck was stripped of all flesh and feathers but leaves a naked spine connected to a fully intact head and the breast down was perfectly fine aswell. This is the second time this has happened, the first time was either at night or early afternoon. The one we recently found was in broad daylight. Do hawks eat birds this way? We have 4 Roosters in our coop, so I can't imagine a hawk, but I'm not sure. Please share your thoughts, I really want to stop this predator.

 

[Kiki]

Possum.
Raccoon.
Anything really.

 

[Kiki]

Roosters don't really stop hungry predators.
Pics of your coop? We could probably help you by giving you ideas on how to make it predator proof.

 

[Penpal]

Raccoon most likely. They eat where they kill. A grown chicken or duck is too big for them to finish, but they start at the head and work down the neck to the shoulders. Raccoons are known as night hunters, most active between midnight and 2:00 a.m. However I found one in my back yard at 9:00 p.m. I chased it off. The chickens didn't have enough sense to run from the raccoon, which makes hunting real easy.

Get some Quickstrike fly bait. 1/2 teaspoon and 1/2 cup of Coke. They love it. Put it somewhere the chickens can't get to it. It's helpful to know the route that the raccoon takes to get into the chicken area. Also, a raccoon usually comes around every third day. You may have more than one.

 

[The Chicken life chose me]

The owl always leaves the head . Definitely owl

 

[The Chicken life chose me]

We found one of our chickens whose neck was stripped of all flesh and feathers but leaves a naked spine connected to a fully intact head and the breast down was perfectly fine aswell. This is the second time this has happened, the first time was either at night or early afternoon. The one we recently found was in broad daylight. Do hawks eat birds this way? We have 4 Roosters in our coop, so I can't imagine a hawk, but I'm not sure. Please share your thoughts, I really want to stop this predator.

Sorry I totally read your post wrong! It’s probably a possum or a skunk

 

[Leatherworker]

We found one of our chickens whose neck was stripped of all flesh and feathers but leaves a naked spine connected to a fully intact head and the breast down was perfectly fine aswell. This is the second time this has happened, the first time was either at night or early afternoon. The one we recently found was in broad daylight. Do hawks eat birds this way? We have 4 Roosters in our coop, so I can't imagine a hawk, but I'm not sure. Please share your thoughts, I really want to stop this predator.

Possums are known for just that. I lost several years back to possums. One night found one in the coop when the hens started yelling. I don't know how it even got in. We shot it.

 

[ChickenGirl300]

One of our chickens experienced the same thing. Did you ever figure out what did this?