GRAPHIC - What killed my hen?

[chickengeorgeto]

The best way to rid your property of raccoons is to hire the Jerry Clower Raccoon Removal Service.

 

[silly4buttons]

Get one of these...
View attachment 1261010
They get rid of these..View attachment 1261013

Good dog

 

[Embden Geese]

That's so sad brought a tear to my eye

 

[roosterhavoc]

Fox or jackal

 

[Mrs. Light Sussex]

It was a fox, it came back again. This time I saw it as I laid in ambush but missed
Will it come back again tonight?

 

[Bunnylady]

Predators will return as long as there is a food source. If you scared it off, it may take a while for it to get up the nerve to try again, but just how long that "while" will be is impossible to say. Sorry about your loss, and wishing you luck with preventing future losses!

 

[Kessel23]

Predators will return as long as there is a food source. If you scared it off, it may take a while for it to get up the nerve to try again, but just how long that "while" will be is impossible to say. Sorry about your loss, and wishing you luck with preventing future losses!

Some smarter predators like raptors will stop hunting in areas where they are unsuccessful. Whenever a raptor attacks one of my chickens, even if it kills the chicken, I would take its dead prize away. If you interrupt a raptors hunting of your chickens every time he attacks then he will stop hunting in that area.

We have a resident pair of Red tailed hawks that rule over our 75 acre farm, they have not attempted to attack our chickens in the past five years. They remember that even though a chicken is easy to catch, it is nearly impossible to keep. The hawks even hunt around my coop, they will take escaped rabbits, wild rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks. The Cooper hawks will still attempt attacks on my chickens and ducks but they are very successful. I assume they continue the attacks because they are juveniles and there are multiple birds in the area. I have not had a cooper hawk attempt an attack in a few weeks, I have not had a cooper hawk successfully grab a bird in 6 years. They seem to like my leghorns, probably because the leghorns are smaller than my other birds. Also northern cooper's hawks are migratory so it is probably different birds each year.

We use to have a resident cooper that was very skilled at killing bantams, she was so cocky that she would purposely miss the swoop, land, and then chase the bantam down. She was extremely hard to stop because she could fly off with such a small bird before she even killed it. I would run towards her and try to save the bantams but she would see me and then take off with the bantam still screaming in her talons. Unfortunately, the cooper was killed by a GHO a few years ago. Do not take food from endangered raptors like bald eagles, it is illegal.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

That would be a racoon. They eat the neck head always and oppsums eat usually just abdomin and intestines.. they can eat more if they are extremely hungry, but that's a general rule. Skunks dont usually eat an adult bird, but more want eggs or chicks.

Found my rooster just like that last fall from a coon and it was graphic and upsetting. Sorry to hear about your loss. A dog and a box trap will do the trick. Relocation of a few miles will keep him from returning too quickly or at all. Some people shoot them, but no matter how pissed I am I cant.

 

[Mrs. Light Sussex]

Tonight, several hours after sunset, I heard a raucous noises from my coop. All seemed in order but a quick head count revealed a missing Plymouth Partridge pullet. No blood to be seen, but there was a pile of tail feathers.
Several hours later a neighbor reported seeing a dead chicken on the side-walk several minutes away from my place. Sure enough the missing pullet was found beheaded. The roost my chickens sleep on it approx. 2 ft high.
I know there are many predators that may decapitate a chicken, but I'm hoping that the pictures will reveal who the culprit is. We don't have North American predators such as skunks, opossums and raccoons. What killed my pullet?
Attached are a couple pictures showing the dead bird.
View attachment 1260930 View attachment 1260932

Update:
It was a fox, it came back again and this time I saw it.

 

[Chelsa'sChicks]

Fox will take the animal away to eat and all the feathers would be removed and more of the bird would be eaten. Unless you interrupted him and found your bird away from the barn a ways. I still say racoon. Good luck!