Chickens killed with only heads eat

[silkieluver_07]

I vote coon or mink. Those two predators love to go on killing rampages and just leave the bodies.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Jenifer72]

I would say possibly a weasel or a mink.

 

[Wifezilla]

I lost 2 ducks this way. It was a hawk. I had to stop free ranging and cover my pen. The hawk still stops by on occasion to check and see if any fluffy snacks are loose in the yard. Last time the hawk brought a baby with her to show her where the snacks live

 

[woodguy]

Quote:
Shooting owls is illegal

I don't care if it's illegal or not....if I catch something eating my chickens it's going to die!
I came home today and two of my four silkies were dead. I don't know what did it but if I had seen it all hell would have broken loose!

 

[birdluver]

Quote:
You are so lucky you caught it. I had a pair of weasles come into my coop and killed 25 chickens before we went out and caught them. As for having the heads eaten and the body left I know thr skunks and racoons do this from expirence.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
they certainly will go into the coop to kill. this is where the owl killed 3 of mine.

 

[littledel]

Quote:
Shooting owls is illegal

I don't care if it's illegal or not....if I catch something eating my chickens it's going to die!
I came home today and two of my four silkies were dead. I don't know what did it but if I had seen it all hell would have broken loose!

I only told you it was illegal so you would know. You never know who is reading these posts (game warden?). I don't blame you one bit, you are the only real protection your chickens have, so sometimes you may have to do something that you might not want to spread around. SSS

 

[Hunter69]

Lost 7 birds last night, not sure what got them but they are scattered all over the neighborhood......
Fur or feather will equal 000 buck

 

[Sailuk]

We have been suffering attacks here in SOMD from Possoms and Raccoons. Although the coops and and play area are completely enclosed top to bottom with 2" x 4" fencing the young possoms and coins still get inside. Just yesterday my dear neighbor and his daughter staged an intervention to prevent me from taking the raccoon I caught the night before in the live trap to Davey Jones Locker. And this morning, as I am leaving for work (4 am) I notice the hen that stands watch atop the henhouse was up and standing by the gate. A young possom climbed down a tree and slipped thru the fence. Dispatched!

Slipping between 2x4 mesh is something I need to address. I cannot kill every possom and coon around, but ****!

 

[DragonflysCoop]

I am glad I found this site. I was looking for answers to this very issue. We had two pullets killed in this very manner the last two nights. It is disturbing. Our sneaky killer slipped in, ate off the pullet's head and then hid her body in the tall grass. We have so many pullets that we didn't notice at first.It was almost as if it knew to hide what it destroyed.

Not only could it be a weasel, but it could be a river otter. We are going to lock up our pullets every night in the hen house and try to fortify our yard with a more predator-proof fence. We thought it was a good one and the chickens have been fine since we turned them out into it at the end of May. Perhaps the vermin here are "slow" in their seek and destroy process.

My grandpa always used the phrase... shoot, shovel and shut up when he talked about eliminating various predators on the farm. We live by that code as well.

The problem is that it is so frustrating to lose ANY farm animal, most of us want revenge! I know I do! I really love my chickens and woe to creature who gets in my way!