What killed my rooster?

[Tami2]

Raccoons are known for removing heads but typically they eat them. That's awfully strange.

Not in my experience & I was shocked to find this out. We have a Barred Owl Nest Box in our yard. The owls have been nesting there since 2017. May 1st of 2020 a coon got into the box & slaughtered both owlets. I saw him in the box on my trail cam the following morning. My husband put up a ladder to investigate. Both owlets were killed & left in the nest box. No part of them was missing from the box. I was horrified & stunned. I actually cried & couldn't shake it for weeks. I was stunned b/c I figured they were killed for food, & yet they were both all there. Maybe this is a one off, I honestly don't know?
People hunt & kill for sport. I always thought animals, predators etc... Only killed to eat.

 

[Tami2]

So I let my chickens out at about 8 this morning, when I came back at 10 my large white rooster was right by the coop door dead (they are free range and I put them in at night). The weird thing was his placement, no feathers were disturbed but his head was clean off and placed right next to him. But there was no blood as if it were sucked out of him. We do have a lot of predators near us but we have never seen anything like this. Does anyone have any ideas? I llive in the Sierra Mountains, and we have over 100 chickens so we want to know what predator we need to protect against so we dont lose any more.

I'm very sorry for your loss. And I hope you find the culprit.

 

[Lenihan Farms]

Not in my experience & I was shocked to find this out. We have a Barred Owl Nest Box in our yard. The owls have been nesting there since 2017. May 1st of 2020 a coon got into the box & slaughtered both owlets. I saw him in the box on my trail cam the following morning. My husband put up a ladder to investigate. Both owlets were killed & left in the nest box. No part of them was missing from the box. I was horrified & stunned. I actually cried & couldn't shake it for weeks. I was stunned b/c I figured they were killed for food, & yet they were both all there. Maybe this is a one off, I honestly don't know?
People hunt & kill for sport. I always thought animals, predators etc... Only killed to eat.

This is very interesting, I'm so sorry this happened to you. It definitely something to think about.

 

[Isadora]

I was stunned b/c I figured they were I always thought animals, predators etc... Only killed to eat.

I wish it were true, but it's not. When I was growing up my parents had about 30 turkey poles killed in one night by a raccoon. Ate 1 or 2, but just killed the rest for fun.

 

[Lenihan Farms]

Did you check around for any foot print's to help to give you a clue? Could a neighbor that doesn't like the crowing roosters have done it to silence them?

There was no place near the chicken coop where we could find footprints. But this could be a possibility, the only odd thing would be the lack of blood or lack of signs of struggle.

 

[Tami2]

I wish it were true, but it's not. When I was growing up my parents had about 30 turkey poles killed in one night by a raccoon. Ate 1 or 2, but just killed the rest for fun.

Awful!!!

 

[Tami2]

This is very interesting, I'm so sorry this happened to you. It definitely something to think about.

Thank you! And I'm so sorry about your roosters.

Before the next breeding season my husband & I wrapped the tree truck with Aluminum Flashing. To prevent the raccoons from climbing the tree with the nest box. We've actually did it to the base of all our trees with nest boxes.

 

[Lenihan Farms]

I wish it were true, but it's not. When I was growing up my parents had about 30 turkey poles killed in one night by a raccoon. Ate 1 or 2, but just killed the rest for fun.

That's horrible, these are the only birds that were killed out of about 40 birds in that coop, so we are considering ourselves lucky.

 

[Tami2]

We are considering putting up surveillance cameras, once we put our girls outside full-time. I'm not sure if I want a baby monitor or a camera that uses WiFi. Probably go with the baby monitor, b/c I turn off our WiFi at night.

 

[Lenihan Farms]

Id go with a weasel or mink, possibly a rat. Check the other chickens for any bites around the back of the neck.
Whatever it is will be back, Set up a game camera.
.

We are purchasing one today. We've lived here for 4 years and have never dealt with a mink or a weasel before, so we dont know how to deal with them if it were one. There are no signs of injuries on any other chickens, but we will keep an eye out. Thank you