Chickens killed with only heads eat

[Julie's Silkies]

what kind of animal bites the head off and leaves the body.

Had 2 dead in the pen last week and this morning 3 in the house dead, I left the dogs run at night and it still came back.
any ideal what kind of animal does it.

 

[Picco]

Weasels will do this. I heard a huge commotion in the coop and found three headless broodies in their nests. The weasel was still in the coop, he got in but couldn't get out so he was shot. It was during the winter so it had an all white coat and was very small. I'm not sure if it was an ermine or a long tailed weasel as they look similar. Weasels can fit into the smallest spaces so weasel-proofing can be very difficult.

 

[noodleroo]

Racoons do this too. They'l reach inside the wire and wait till a chicken comes by and pull its head off. Sorry about your loss....

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

Hate to tell you....but possums do that too. 2 years ago a possom got in a pen and ripped the heads off 14 pullets; of course he couldn't find his way out either~~~so he, and all of his cousins since then, have met with the business end of my shotgun.

 

[littledel]

I know of coons, possums, minks and skunks all doing this very thing. Recently lost 2 young birds this way, only to see, shoot at but miss, a skunk a few nights later near the pen. I also caught a very large coon in a live trap nearby.

 

[chickbird]

Julie's Silkies :

what kind of animal bites the head off and leaves the body.

Had 2 dead in the pen last week and this morning 3 in the house dead, I left the dogs run at night and it still came back.
any ideal what kind of animal does it.

i had an owl that did this.​

 

[Zahboo]

I second the owl, sorry for the loss/

 

[AlaskGirl]

I sincerely hope that was the last possible animal mentioned...just when I was going to sleep soundly tonight!!

 

[ChickenFarmerIStillLoveU]

This is what just happened to our turkey poults last night. Nothing dug under to get into the turkey coop, and we're at a loss as to how something go in. 4 (maybe a 5th one that's still alive but in rough shape) of our 6 turkeys were dead this morning

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Could also be a rat