Eatting The Insides Out, What Is It?

[new&learning]

Insides gone out of two hens in two days. There were a lot of feathers laying around and the bodies were in the back part of their wooded pen. The heads were intact. One foot gone and one wing gone. Heart and bladder(i think) still there, but all bowels and stomach gone!
The other days I lost three 8 week old babies in three days but with the babys they were just gone with just a few fethers laying around. We were on vacation when this happened and the nice neighbor didnt know what to do.
I have looked all around the pen and can find no dig holes. please help i dont have many more left. what is killing my babies?

Thank you thank you for all the help cathy

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Possums eat that way

 

[Honeysucklefeathers]

Quote:
yep, possum

 

[new&learning]

I found another one this morning except this time the head was completely gone but insides there....I have put out traps and secured the fence better. I am hoping for a better outcome tomorrow morning. Oh and I put a baby moniter out there for tonight. My husband thinks im crazy. LOL

 

[welasharon]

Secured the fence better? What is it made of? You may need to bring the chickens left inside or in a garage...something more secure till you get everything better fortified. You have a picture of your setup?
sharon

 

[SilkieChickenLover336]

Opossum

 

[bertman]

Our run has 2x4 vinyl coated wire overhead. A juvenile possum squeezed right through it the other night. Luckily the girls made so much racket that I and my trusty Lab got out there and scared it off before any major injuries occurred.

Harware cloth all around is the ticket. There are lots of threads on here about how to prevent critters from getting in. "Search" is your friend.

Good luck. I hope you don't lose any more birds.

 

[Missicaye]

I've seen rats kill my chicks! I have over 50 hens along with rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks and geese.
None of these animals are harmed. My barn is Alcatraz!! Lol
Woke up one morning missing a 4 week old silkie chick, GONE, no trace of intruder or feathers.
I locked the babies in a cage (half x half inch rabbit wire) for the next 4 weeks.
Since the babies are bigger I put the chix out in the "nursery" run again last week.
Sure enuf, at 5 in the afternoon, a rat attacked my babies.
I stopped the attack but the baby had a broken leg and multiple spinal bite wounds. The baby healed perfectly while in a box in my kitchen.
The rats squeeze through the 2x4 vinyl coated wire.
So, I put out "Just one Bite" posion round blocks. I threaded a zip-tie throught the center hole attaching to a small piece of fencing and slid it under the coop.
Every morning, this past week, the block has been eaten, no attacks, yet I still see a rat when I check with a flashlight in the middle of the night.
Yesterday morning the rats got into the packaging, dropped it off the shelf to the ground and my Labrador ate 3 blocks before I stopped her.
Off to the vet we went......
Unfortunately, I came home to another dead silkie baby. This time the body was eaten out completly, just an empty shell. The skin, ribcage & pelvis still intact.
I am so angry, I snuck out again last night, saw a rat, trapped it in the corner and beat the living daylights out of it with my flashlight.
It got away. ARRRGGGHH
My girlfriend has lost 18 chicks and 10 baby turkeys this season to rats.

 

[mrpekinduck]

Oh thats horrible I'm so sorry about your chicks. Also is your dog okay?

 

[Ole rooster]

Where is your .22? A .22 with shorts in the chamber is perfect for rats. Not a real powerful round but enough to kill the largest rat. And relatively quite too. Now a .22 long or long rifle is a different story. Rats are nasty and as has been said carry real problamatic deseases. The blocks or pellets as you've found out can have other consequenses. Plus you have to wait and hope they work. I've had mice take poison off and store it for a later meal.