Came home to over half my chickens missing or torn apart

[Bernsen92]

So im not in exactly the best of moods while writing this as it all happened within the last hour. but this evening I arrived home to find my Brahma x Black Australorp rooster sitting on my car in my front yard. This was already very strange as he has never jumped by 5ft fence that I can remember. So I led him around the house to the gate and I start noticing 3-5 massive tuffs of feathers within feet of the gate. after getting him into the rear yard, I grab my flashlight and am disheartened to find 4 of my Golden Comet hens and a Black Australorp hen dead with nearly no damage other than having their heads ripped off. I eventually found my purebred Brahma rooster and he was alive but had his tail completely ripped off to the bone and had no choice but to put him down right there/ I did a head count and out of 17 chickens, I lost 9 including the 3 that I still haven't found.

I'm at a loss really. what kind of predator/animal would kill so many of them, but only leave with 1 or 2?

 

[Howard E]

It was a mink, weasel or one of the cousins.

If you have an open access coop, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did.

 

[Bernsen92]

It will come back for more now that it knows there is an easy meal.

Yeah I know, and it sucks. but thankfully I live in farm country and the random gunshot in the night is easy enough to explain to the neighbors down the road. but first I'm installing cameras so I can figure out if it was a fox, coon, or the neighbors dog. its a boxer that's been hanging around my front yard a few times over the last week at night and has growled and barked at me on a few occasions.

 

[theoldchick]

Get a game camera to see what is visiting your flock. I suspect a domesticated dog killed your chickens as most wild predators don't leave such a mess.

 

[Howard E]

Well you are not the OP, but since you asked.........pattern of kill is always a clue as to whodunnit. A lot of dead birds killed all at once, with missing heads, bites to the back of the neck, etc. is almost always a mink, weasel or one of the cousins (fisher cat, martin, etc. iin northern climates). Others will kill a lot of birds (dogs, etc) but pattern of kill is different.

Weasels, mink, ferrets, etc, are all from the same family. They are some of natures most vicious predators of rats, mice, rodents, etc, Said to kill for sport......not exactly true, but rather are hard wired to kill in abundance when abundance presents itself. When they go into a killing spree, they kill anything that moves. They are effecient at it.....going for the back of the neck at base of the skull and spine.....they bite down and severe the spine, killing instantly. The blood thing is probably an extension of biting the neck and severed heads. Yes.....that would be bloody, but not what they are after.

What normally attracts them to the chickens is not the chickens but rats and mice that are attracted to the spilt chicken feed but they will transition to killing birds in a heartbeat. They are killing machines, so will come back.

Way to keep birds safe is to house them in a tight coop that predators can't get in. No openings larger than 1 inch for weasels and not much larger for a mink. Long slender bodies are made go into rodent tunnels, so plan accordingly.

But in the case of the OP, birds nesting on the ground in the open would be goners. Around here they wouldn't last 2 days. Only bird I've had that pulled that stunt didn't last 12 hours.

 

[Bernsen92]

I've never heard of them taking just the heads

that's the thing, the heads weren't missing. of the 5 hens I found none of them had any damage what so ever, other than missing their heads, and for 4 of them, their heads within five feet of the bodies, completely intact. and the other one was basically untouched other than being killed. the only one that was bloodied up was my rooster.

Wondering if a neighbors dog decided to "play" with my chickens.

 

[KingD]

They have a 24ftx10ft cattle panel hoop coop that I built, but it is open front and they completely refuse to use it except for laying. they dig holes and nest in the ground most of the time in groups when they sleep. I'm aware of the risks and have lost one here or there over the last 2 years but the shear number of chickens it killed this time is insane.

It will come back for more now that it knows there is an easy meal.

 

[Matejka]

Dog!

 

[CluckerFamily]

I am so sorry for your loss.
I hope you can figure out and capture the culprit.

 

[Howard E]

No worries......it was a good question.

We are not known for having mink......yet we have them around.

This one showed up on a gamer camera week or so back, and no more than 50 yards from the chicken house.....when it comes to chickens......death is always lurking nearby. If you do your part, predators are no threat. If not, they will wipe you out.