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

[Chickassan]

That is just it, there are no signs exept the puncture.
Hawk pops head though kills and can't pull through, chicks would have came right to it.
I have seen it happen, but in that instance chicks could be pulled through. Hawk was taking them one by one, easy food for its own brood given the season I witnessed it.

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

 

[Suzi18]

That is certainly odd. The puncture wound does look like a bb hole

 

[cmom]

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.

I was surprised of how many predators I see on my cameras especially at night.

 

[bobbi-j]

Weasels would leave puncture wounds.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I would visit your neighbor, explain that you're letting them know that something killed a couple of your chicks. That you're letting them know something's lurking, although it does look like BB pellets. Try searching for the pellet, thinking it may have exited, somewhere in the area the chicks were.

 

[Fishkeeper]

I don't think any animal would leave a single puncture wound all the way through, let alone leave the chicks in the cage. I'd really second that it might have been a BB pellet. Maybe an accident somehow? But it's awfully center-of-body to be an accident.
I think you need to go investigate those kids. Shooting at enclosed, defenseless chicks sounds like a big warning sign. Have there been any other suspicious animal deaths? Pets gone missing?

 

[homeschoolin momma]

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.

I agree with it being a hawk. Last summer I had chicks out in our tractor with chicken wire. My friend pulled up to see a hawk flying off. It was putting its foot through and grabbing whatever it could. I lost two chicks in that ordeal. That tractor was destroyed in this winter's storms, so the next one will be made with hardware cloth.
So sorry for your loss. Any babies are hard to lose.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Weasels would leave puncture wounds.

Yes, but they usually attack from the back and go for the head. Last year was a bad year for me. Before I lost the two chicks in my tractor, (see above post) I lost all my chicks that my husband had ordered for me that spring. They had outgrown the pool in the garage and so until I could fix my coop to accommodate the new young ones, I put them up in our sheep shelter. Only problem was that the window is only covered with steel wire. It has 2x3 rectangles in it. Weasel easily climbed through and bit through and killed all 18 babies, including some baby turkeys that stayed with them. It was a devastating loss. My friend gave me some of her extras and I made sure my coop was secure and that's where they went! They are all grown up now (except the two thatwere lost in the above tractor incident) and I cant wait to start hatching.
Grabbing right around the middle of the chick to try to pull it through screams hawk or eagle to me.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Chickens wouldn't kill another chicken that way. CHICKENS GO FOR THE HEAD/NECK AREA USUALLY. IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE HARD FOR A CHICKEN TO GET TO THE BELLY AREA OF ANOTHER CHICKEN. SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS! SORRY EVERTHING IS IN CAPS, JUST NOTICED

 

[centrarchid]

Yes, but they usually attack from the back and go for the head. Last year was a bad year for me. Before I lost the two chicks in my tractor, (see above post) I lost all my chicks that my husband had ordered for me that spring. They had outgrown the pool in the garage and so until I could fix my coop to accommodate the new young ones, I put them up in our sheep shelter. Only problem was that the window is only covered with steel wire. It has 2x3 rectangles in it. Weasel easily climbed through and bit through and killed all 18 babies, including some baby turkeys that stayed with them. It was a devastating loss. My friend gave me some of her extras and I made sure my coop was secure and that's where they went! They are all grown up now (except the two thatwere lost in the above tractor incident) and I cant wait to start hatching.
Grabbing right around the middle of the chick to try to pull it through screams hawk or eagle to me.

Biggest evidence against a raptor is a dead chick was found in middle of cage. Raptor can pull but cannot pull. If delivers a killing bite or grab with talons, then the victim will be held against side of pen as it expires.