headless chicken!

[mamahenny]

last night i went out to the coop and found my rooster that has a leg that is bent out. ( It was a birth defect.) He was missing a head. (obviously dead) Now one person said it was definently a rat while another had no doubt in his mind that it was a coon. MY question is what was it and how do i stop whatever it was from killing some of my healthy birds?

 

[ChooksChick]

It could have been anything from a mink to a rat to a raccoon- you have to make sure nothing can get into your coop!

 

[gallusdomesticus]

Racoons can chew the heads off of chickens but so can owls and some other predators. Racoons are not efficient predators and will frequently leave a real mess of partially eaten birds, feathers, broken eggs, etc. If you suspect a racoon, they are tough to deter. They climb well and are strong enough to rip through chicken wire or plastic wire. Your ventilation to your coop needs to be covered in hardware cloth and you need to not have any openings larger than 4 inches for racoon or 3 inches for a possum or else the critter can get in. Most importantly, make sure your birds are closed up at night. I'm sorry about your loss.

 

[hinkjc]

We had an owl take our pheasant head off, right thru the flight netting.

 

[Bec]

I just lost 2 ducks, 1 found with no head..the other was never found. I am thinking owl here, we have never seen a raccoon around here although I am sure it isn't impossible!



Sorry about your loss!

 

[clhbubba]

We had a large possum take the head of a duck and a couple of chickens before I could trap it. Edited to also say I'm sorry about your loss. But, whatever it was will be back in a day or two.

 

[birdsofthefarm]

Yesterday we had a headless chicken tooo........