Flock wiped out last night (description is a little graphic, but no photos)

[CharlieBird]

After an unfortunate miscommunication between my husband and I last night, the door to our chicken run was never closed. Please no judgment. We're heartbroken. When I went outside this morning, I found two carcasses about 10 feet from the coop. One was a hen, sitting upright (sorry, but as though she were on a barbecue) with her head completely missing. The other was our once formidable rooster who literally had the fight of his life last night, but was intact. Our other six hens are nowhere to be found. Inside the coop are some feathers that are mostly the roosters, but there are also some downy feathers (not a hen's worth, though) from one or more of the other missing hens. No blood, though. There are a lot of feathers outside around where the two dead chickens were. Again, most seem to be from the rooster, with a few feather "clusters" that look like they were pulled out in chunks from one of the other missing hens. I walked the property today with our two dogs to see if we could find any signs of the remaining chickens. I'm assuming they are dead and taken.

We live in a fairly rural, wooded area of Midcoast Maine. Fox, fisher cats, coyotes, raccoons, skunks, all the usual suspects are around. But in reading through what predators do with a flock, it almost seems like two predators came through last night. A fisher cat may have beheaded our chicken and killed our rooster, but would he/she have dragged off six big hens? Wouldn't that be more the M.O. of a fox or a coyote? Has anyone experienced anything like this?

 

[aart]

Wouldn't that be more the M.O. of a fox or a coyote?

Yup.
Did this happen over the course of the whole night?
Were you gone or house to far away to hear anything?
Could have been multiple preds.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[hayley3]

Sorry for your loss...
Sounds like multiple predators.

 

[Naser]

Sorry for your loss
I would say big predator.
Consider automatic door opener
I have this
https://www.chickenguard.com/product/extreme/
Very good

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome, and I'm so sorry!
Many of us have been there too, and it's awful. I hope you can move forward with cute new chicks this spring, because in spite of everything, it's so worth it.
Add another layer of protection out there too, like electric fencing, and/or a safe run. Nobody will forget the coop, ever again, but things happen.
Mary

 

[CatWhisperer]

So sorry for your devastating loss. Automatic doors are a wonderful thing and worth the investment.

 

[hilltopchicks77]

The only ones I’ve had literally go missing returned in a day or 2 after an attack. Not to get your hopes up but maybe? Heads missing points to raccoons in our area.

 

[CharlieBird]

Yup.
Did this happen over the course of the whole night?
Were you gone or house to far away to hear anything?
Could have been multiple preds.
Sorry for your loss.

We were home, but never heard a thing. Our bedroom windows face the front of the house, though and the coop is set back in the backyard. And thanks.

 

[CharlieBird]

The only ones I’ve had literally go missing returned in a day or 2 after an attack. Not to get your hopes up but maybe? Heads missing points to raccoons in our area.

My mom said the same thing! I keep hoping a few will show back up. Raccoons are a definite possibility, as is a fisher cat.

 

[CharlieBird]

So sorry for your devastating loss. Automatic doors are a wonderful thing and worth the investment.

Thank you! We will definitely look into an automatic door.