EMERGENCY HELP!

Rivka

In the Brooder
10 Years
Apr 24, 2009
63
0
39
Hello,
I am actually writing under my moms name. Today she had the most horrible thing happen. One of her chickens was found with out a head surrounded by feathers. Another one has vanished. The chicken killed had no bite marks, no broken legs, bones, or any kind of gash marks... I was unable to get a thorough look at the neck as I did not have any gloves, but it appears to almost be a clan cut. The chicken was killed in a pen next to the pen where my mom keeps them. I walked around and there were no holes big enough for anything to have gotten in to and have gotten it. There was no blood anywhere and the head was gone. Her other RIR was not harmed at all. We are very puzzled by this. We are in TX and are wondering if this is a predator or some kind of cult thing. I major in Anthropology and I know that some of them use chicken parts and what not. I am not attached to her chickens but I am horribly upset as I do have my own and love them as my pets. If anyone has any suggestions or help that would be great. Thank you.
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Well i cant say for where you live but around where i live minks will do that often and they dont need that big of a hole they are a very slick and dangerous critter and it will probably be back
 
Those aren't prominent down here coyotes are but there wasn't a hole big enough for one of them to get in there.
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You need to find out how it is getting in, whatever it is. Who knows exactly what it is but it will be back. Look for dinky holes, even the size of a quarter. Don't know what type of floor you have but find the hole so you don't lose anymore. You need a trap too but I don't know what kind of bait to use-maybe a rat trap but I am not sure what type of bait.
 
Well I actually *saw* a small baby size weasel in the encloused area that attaches to the chicken coop I had been keeping my 5 wk old chicks in durning the day & by the time I'd seen it & confronted it with a broom it had taken the heads off of 3 of my pullets! 1 pullet he took the head off of & it could get the head out of the enclosed are which is chicken wire.... Hubby had seen this thing in the yard one day too & it was SO small that we didn't realize what we'd seen because it was the size of a chip monk, but after hubby found 1 pullet dead & headless I'd found another one the next day & that's when the thing came back while I was on the inside of the enclosed area cleaning up it's mess which was really no mess. There was *no blood at all* & it was a clean cut off of the head & it must have come back to try again to get it out. I had really just scared it away with the broom & I just put all the chicks inside for the night early & then the next day hubby doubled up the chicken wire so there's less that a 1/4th inch opening... I'd kind of wished I'd had the spayed in my hand instead of the broom because I would have made HIM headless....
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Anyway it sounds like a weasel.
 
The coop does have a lock, the coop next door does not have one as it is a community coop. only a few people have access to it since right now cows are being kept there.
 
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That is horrible I am so sorry for your loss. I will look into seeing if we do have weasels here.
 
I read that weasels can get through a 1 1/2 inch hole

raccoons will reach right through the mesh of wire that is large enough gauge and do just what you are describing, tear off the heads

weasel or raccoon would do what you have described
sorry for your loss.
 

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