This morning I went to my coop to give my girls fresh water and discovered my "special needs" girl, Cayenne, lying dead in the corner. Cayenne was a GLW pullet with severe cross beak that I've fed special feed every day since her beak problem developed and she was the sweetest thing. I picked her up . . . wait a minute, where the heck is her head???? I moved things around, poking and looking. No head. The other chickens all look fine. I didn't close the pop door that night and after investigating found a 4" gap in the run. Needless to say everyone got closed in the coop tonight. As I pulled into my driveway (already dark at 6pm) tonight I saw a possum near one of the barns. Also have smelled a skunk the last 2 days. Would one of these just eaten the head?? I have read the sticky in this section about head/crop being raccoon and head/neck being weasel. Honestly I didn't inspect her that closely. The "point of separation" was pretty close to her body, so I'm guessing either of those being likely. The only other thing I can think - I noticed some blood on her back like from a rooster that was too persistent. Cayenne was half the size of her hatch mates due to the beak thing - my older rooster in that pen - a small silkie mix - didn't seem to bother her a bit but I had a small cockerel that I've seen try to mount her - but she was always able to get away. The other pullets chased him so I think if Cayenne got away the other girls would have kept him at bay?? Would a cockerel actually take off a pullet's head? She did not have the missing feathers/blood on her back the day before. The other pullets were totally fine with her - I've never seen them pick on her even though she was smaller. Any thoughts?
my guess something reached in and took the head, and in the process raked her back. so sorry to hear of your loss
have read the sticky in this section about head/crop being raccoon and head/neck being weasel A Skunk IS a "weasel" Weasel is a generic term for a family of animals A Mink is a weasel too http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustelidae Mustelidae or Mustelids (from Latin mustela, weasel), commonly referred to as the weasel family, are a family of carnivorous mammals. The Mustelidae are a diverse family and the largest in the order Carnivora, at least partly because this family has in the past been a catch-all category for many early or poorly differentiated taxa. Within a large range of variation, the mustelids exhibit some common characteristics. They are typically small animals with short legs, short round ears, and thick fur. Most mustelids are solitary, nocturnal animals, and are active year-round.[2] Mustelids, with the exception of the sea otter,[3] have picky scent glands that produce a strong-smelling secretion the animals use for sexual signaling and for marking territory. The most developed of these scent glands are found in skunks
I'd bet on a coon. They like to pop the heads off. Your other chickens probably kicked her off the roost when the coon came in. You know - throw one in the volcano & the gods will leave us alone kind of thing. I've lost a ton of birds to darn coons. I'm dealing with a fox at the moment - not sure what to do with him. he grabs them during the day.
Thank you muddy horse and midget farms. And Bear Foot Farm, thank you for your input. I don't think it was a skunk though, because the coop didn't have any skunk smell (the smell was closer to the house). I looked up long-tailed weasel - which range throughout the U.S. - and that sounds like a possibility. Or raccoon, like midget farms said. Anyway, I'll be locking the "kids" up at night until I can get the run predator proof. R.I.P Cayenne. You were a sweet chicken.
my friend had 7 chickens get killed only the veins on there necks were severed and they were drained of blood the next night he trapped a weasel
