Animal killed my chickens!!! Don’t know what it is

Natalia-anc

Chirping
Feb 12, 2019
37
29
61
Hey, I have a little issue and I need some help. I’ve had chickens for 2.5 years and I’ve never had any issues with animals digging or getting in. I came home from a weekend trip the other day and found 12 of my chickens dead. All of them were headless. At first I thought raccoon but there were no holes big enough for a raccoon. Than I thought fox because we found a little digging hole so we filled that in. Last night we planted a little trap. I locked the hens up in their coop so nothing could get in there and I placed some chop meat in the run to test if anything got in and ate it. I woke up and all the meat was eaten but there is no digging and no disturbance to the run at all. I’m starting to think it’s a weasel that’s very small because it can get through the small holes in my gate. Has this happened to anyone and does anyone have any ideas of what it could be? I live on Long Island, NY and the weather is pretty hot here rn. I just really need to figure out what the animal is so I can take control of the situation quickly. Thanks!!
 
I thought I had my coop predator proof. But as it turns out it wasn't - a very small juvenile possum got in and killed 3 of my birds. My coop was ADULT predator proof - but I didn't think about little ones getting in and causing damage. (The gate was chain link - although the sides of the gate were closed off, I didn't close off all the chain link- that has since been corrected.) Although I think I have heard that skunks do the bite the head off thing. But my point is - even if an adult predator couldn't have made it in the hole - you may be dealing with a juvenile with all the instincts of an adult but not quite the size so they can still get in and out.
 
What type of fencing is on your run?
A racoon will reach thru chicken wire or gaps and pull whatever piece of chicken they can and eat it.
A weasel can fit through a hole you might think only a mouse could fit through, but would certainly not be able to eat 12 heads in one night. Least weasels are only the size of a chipmunk and a long tailed SLIGHTLY bigger. Females are smaller than males.
Your gap under the fence would probably allowed racoons, possums and skunks in as they can squeeze through pretty small areas.
Keep locking your chickens in at night. Fortify or redo your run with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Dig it a foot or more in the ground to avoid diggers.
Good luck!
 
Easiest way to find out what your dealing with is to pick up a cheap game camera. Set the camera up and rebait the area
 
I just had a skunk get into my coop and kill 20 of my young birds. All were about 4-8 weeks. It didn’t touch the full grown birds. I’m shocked a skunk could do that. It bit the heads off of some, tore the organs out of others and either carried off or devoured the rest of the bodies whole! You may be dealing with a skunk.
 
Raccoon. They can get through surprisingly small gaps. I had a raccoon getting into one of my pens through a slight depression in the ground alongside the base of a pen that was half the size of my fist. I wouldn’t believe a raccoon could’ve fit through if I didn’t catch him. He wasn’t a baby either. They will squeeze through anything they can.
 
It could be any number of predators. I would put up a game camera and then you will know for sure what you are dealing with. Here most of the predators roam at night. Good luck...
 
Thanks for all of your helpful replies!! Last night we set up a game camera and placed a trap in the run. All the chickens were locked inside. Nothing got into the run but we did see a raccoon outside of the run walking around and yesterday my neighbors caught a raccoon right near my chicken coop. I’m starting to think it’s a raccoon. I’m going to lock the chickens in again tonight and set up the trap again just to make sure that nothing is getting in. Would a raccoon kill as many as it could. I don’t understand why they would kill so many chickens but not eat them all.
 

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