Dead chickens

[Joe1962]

Came home today to find my rooster and one hen dead. Both had their necks ripped open. Only damage from what I could see. Is this the work of a Weasel or Mink? I found a small hole chewed through the wood at ground level. Did not look fresh though. Their entry from the run to the coop was open. Run is enclosed in chicken wire.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If no possibility of an aerial predator then I would assume one of the two predators your mentioned.
When I have mink kills, I can rarely find the bite wound. But, they kill everything in the building. Raccoons can kill several at a time but usually eat some meat.

 

[MandaH]

I think you have received some great advice to try to prevent future problems. I just wanted to say i am sorry that you lost some of your birds. I am also thinking it was probably a small furry weasel/mink. My neighbor had one coming a whole that was very small. It (a mink) just killed them and left them there except for a few he tried hiding under a board. A male mink will leave a musty smell that sometimes you can smell even after they are gone

 

[Joe1962]

Sounds like a weasel or coon. How big was the hole?

Maybe 1.5 inches. There is no way a coon got in.

 

[Joe1962]

Me, too! Good luck!
Do you have a live trap and/or field camera?. Use the carcasses of your birds as bait.....

Already done. Put the dead ones in a live trap and set it by the coop.

 

[Helloworld]

If the crop is where ripped thats an owl. They use the digested food chickens have in crop to feed their young. Their opinion is why should they have to do hard work when chicken breaks it down and stores for overnight.They suck. Sorry about your flock.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Sounds like a weasel or coon. How big was the hole?

 

[cacowit]

if you really need to know have a vet take saliva samples from the wounds and have them sent to a lab..he rooster may have samples on his spurs if he got a lick in..

 

[Joe1962]

if you really need to know have a vet take saliva samples from the wounds and have them sent to a lab..he rooster may have samples on his spurs if he got a lick in..

I think he was trying to get away. He was in a screened off area of the coop I put in for setting hens. There was a hen in there also that was alive. Can a weasel/mink get through chicken wire?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I think he was trying to get away. He was in a screened off area of the coop I put in for setting hens. There was a hen in there also that was alive. Can a weasel/mink get through chicken wire?

They can very easily. You might want to replace it with hardwire cloth.