First attack, any ideas?

[Derrick cook]

Ok so i was gone today doing some side jobs when i checked my phone and see 8 missed calls from my wife and these two pictures...something got my poor girl Koy today...i dontnhave any better pictures and i didnt get to see the body because she buried it before i got home but can anyone give me an idea as to of what might have done this? Based onnthe pictures i wanna say possum or raccoon. Anyone have something similar? Trying to find out so i know how big of a trap i need to set or how i can terminate this predator

 

[orrpeople]

During the day? Still in your yard or elsewhere?
Birds of prey often will attack right in the yard and begin eating. (We had a big red-tailed hawk eat half a chicken in our garden.)

 

[6PeckinChickens]

My outlaws found one of their chickens with the head ripped off. They put the chicken in a live trap and caught a possum the next day and dispatched the possum. Possums are usually nocturnal, but they will look for food during the day if their sleep patterns have been disturbed, it is cold or food is scarce. Hope this helps and I'm sorry for your loss!

 

[TexasSam]

Ok so i was gone today doing some side jobs when i checked my phone and see 8 missed calls from my wife and these two pictures...something got my poor girl Koy today...i dontnhave any better pictures and i didnt get to see the body because she buried it before i got home but can anyone give me an idea as to of what might have done this? Based onnthe pictures i wanna say possum or raccoon. Anyone have something similar? Trying to find out so i know how big of a trap i need to set or how i can terminate this predator View attachment 1174528 View attachment 1174529

That's a raccoon they have a fascination with removing the head that's my guess. Opossums aren't hunters they will kill a trapped chicken but unlikely a free one. The way it has been eaten coon maybe skunk

 

[6PeckinChickens]

What Killed My Chicken?

Entire chicken eaten on site - hawk

Bites in breast or thigh, abdomen eaten; entire bird eaten on site - opossum

Deep marks on head and neck, or head and neck eaten, maybe feathers around fence post - owl

Entire chicken eaten or missing, maybe scattered feathers - coyote

One bird gone, maybe scattered feathers - fox

Chicks pulled into fence, wings and feet not eaten - domestic cat

Chicks killed, abdomen eaten (but not muscles and skin), maybe lingering odor - skunk

Head bitten off, claw marks on neck, back, and sides; body partially covered with litter - bobcat

Bruises and bites on legs - rat

Backs bitten, heads missing, necks and breasts torn, breasts and entrails eaten; bird pulled into fence and partially eaten; carcass found away from housing, maybe scattered feathers - raccoon

Hope this helps!!

 

[venymae]

I'd think raccoon. Use a mashmallow tied to the pressure plate so you don't get a cat and so the coon actually triggers the trap. Good luck! I agree with the other posters that most of the times opossum won't bother your chooks (we have TONS where I live)

 

[Derrick cook]

During the day? Still in your yard or elsewhere?
Birds of prey often will attack right in the yard and begin eating. (We had a big red-tailed hawk eat half a chicken in our garden.)

Happend literally right outside the coop door

 

[TexasSam]

Happend literally right outside the coop door

Raccoon was chasing her she went for the coop for safety. She was probably pulled out of the coop

 

[Derrick cook]

Update: i found out it is a hawk, so i went out and bought a cheap battery powered airsoft bb gun machine gun, nothing thats gonna hurt the hawk. Everytime it shows up i get it a few times and its gone for the day