What killed my chickens??

[vchambers]

Hey everyone! I have had chickens for several years and never had an issue until now. This morning I went out to give my ladies a treat and make sure they were all set for the day. I happened to notice out of the corner of my eye what looked like a dead northern flicker in my yard. I went over to remove it and discovered that is was a head from one of my chickens. I went to do a count of my ladies and realized that I was missing another one - 2 in total. I looked everywhere and cannot find any evidence of a struggle....no feathers - nothing just a head. At first I thought it was a coon but they eat the heads and leave the bodies do they not?? I just find it strange that there was no evidence....if I didn't see the head I wouldn't have known until later. Any ideas??

 

[dfalco]

Oh! I'm sorry! Losing chickens to a predator is so awful. My feeling is the predator will return for easy dinner when it gets hungry, so the first importance is making sure the coop/run are secure. I've no idea what got two chickens. Do you think they both went missing at the same time?

 

[chickenturner]

Probably a fox or a coon. Fox will carry them off and leave no trace. I've seen on this site that skunk will kill them too not haven't seen this myself. Best to fence them in an lock up at night to avoid the predators. Good luck.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

From the information that you provided, blame the fox, the coyote, or the bobcat. It would help if you posted your location. The above assumes that your chickens are standard size adults.

 

[centrarchid]

When a fox tangles with a chicken it cannot carry easily when it struggles, the fox will often de-head chicken on the spot to continue packing victim off. Fox does not want to call in another predator the fox cannot handle. If fox pulling prey items off the roost they can sometimes do it with little feather loss.

 

[vchambers]

Oh! I'm sorry! Losing chickens to a predator is so awful. My feeling is the predator will return for easy dinner when it gets hungry, so the first importance is making sure the coop/run are secure. I've no idea what got two chickens. Do you think they both went missing at the same time?

Hi thanks for your reply. Yes, they went missing the same night. Still strange to me that there was no evidence of a struggle.

 

[aart]

Yes, they went missing the same night. Still strange to me that there was no evidence of a struggle.

They were taken at night.....are your birds not locked up in a coop at night?

 

[MINDANAO DAVE]

Hey everyone! I have had chickens for several years and never had an issue until now. This morning I went out to give my ladies a treat and make sure they were all set for the day. I happened to notice out of the corner of my eye what looked like a dead northern flicker in my yard. I went over to remove it and discovered that is was a head from one of my chickens. I went to do a count of my ladies and realized that I was missing another one - 2 in total. I looked everywhere and cannot find any evidence of a struggle....no feathers - nothing just a head. At first I thought it was a coon but they eat the heads and leave the bodies do they not?? I just find it strange that there was no evidence....if I didn't see the head I wouldn't have known until later. Any ideas??

Fox or coyote