Did my chicken kill my chicks...or something else?

[cmom]

just because you dont see a lot of predators doesnt mean they arent around. Predators are stealthy, It doesnt benefit them to be out in the open drawing attention. environmental factors could push new predators into your area at any time, things are always changing.
I personally never see predators hardly but i know for a fact i have fox, coyote, raccoon, bear, bob cats etc.

I agree. Here are a few pictures of the predators that roam around here.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

Very sorry about your chicks they look very sweet

 

[Amc29]

Do you have a game camera you can put up? Often times if a predator made the kill most likely it will be back. I let my very special bird out a month ago while I was painting the coops and a fox killed her. I have seen the fox since. It may be a coon as they will reach through the wire and grab a bird.

We do have some cameras we will be setting up to see if anything is lurking about. We had actually bought some a week or so ago, but dragged our feet on getting a memory card. Not anymore...we will be setting it up today.

 

[Amc29]

just because you dont see a lot of predators doesnt mean they arent around. Predators are stealthy, It doesnt benefit them to be out in the open drawing attention.

Right. I understand that. Raccoons for us have always been a nocturnal predator. I think the only daytime predator issues we have had have been feral cats. It just seems like (and I could be wrong) that the larger predators would go after the grown chickens or the not-so-agile ducks that weren't penned up. Nothing was eaten and they weren't torn up. Just dead.

 

[1cock2hens]

an easy kill is an easy kill, any predator of any size will take advantage of that. it could have been anything. they way they were left had my mind going to raccoon, maybe stray dog

 

[Amc29]

an easy kill is an easy kill, any predator of any size will take advantage of that. it could have been anything. they way they were left had my mind going to raccoon, maybe stray dog

They were still in the cage when I found them. One was in the center of the cage and the other was partially tucked under the water, near the bricks. It seems a dog would do more damage than a single through puncture on each body. We have considered a fox maybe getting its snout in there and chomping down. There aren't any bite or claw marks. I suppose if we don't catch anything on camera, it will remain a mystery.

 

[1cock2hens]

you are right, from the pics i thought they were found just outside the pen, soo anything that could stick its hands in a cage or anything small enough to fit through the wire, doesnt narrow it down too much..
just fyi, a dog will just throw them around till they are dead with no intent on killing,just for fun, sometimes not leaving hardly a mark. but as you said they were in the pen so i guess i would cross off dog.

 

[Chickassan]

The one puncture clean through says hawk to me. They don't just swoop sometimes they'll hunt on the ground if something is penned.

 

[Amc29]

The one puncture clean through says hawk to me. They don't just swoop sometimes they'll hunt on the ground if something is penned.

That is really useful, thank you. I did not realize they hunted from the ground. Definitely have mostly thought of them as an aerial predator.

 

[centrarchid]

I do not see anything that makes me think hawk, from air or ground.