OR... a possum. I had a hen killed two days ago and her head was missing. The predator had to climb into the pen to get her (chain-link). I knew the little pest would be coming back for the rest of her, so I moved the extra-large trap right beside the pen, and put the rest of her carcass in the bait basket. The very next day, there was a possum in there. He was only a baby (she was only a bantam) but the other two chickens in that same pen haven't been touched since. The possum was relocated through Animal Control yesterday, and once I get the trap back I plan to reset it just in case. But the fact that I caught a possum and the other two chickens in there haven't been touched, tells me that possum was probably the culprit. But the evidence is the same - missing head.
We lost two hens like that. Set up the night vision camera and some bait and caught a opossum in the pen. Wish we could have seen where it got in at, but I think the camera scared it away, because we never caught it again.
A number of predators will eat only the head. Tell more. Where was he found? Had he been moved from original location? Was he roosting enclosed? in the open? Opossum is a possibility for sure but there are others (GHO will eat only a head sometimes).
I shined it's eyes this morning with a flashlight just before daylight. It won't survive tonight, whether it's a coon or a 'possum, and yes the rooster was in a 4x4 pen. It scared him down off the roost and caught him close to the wire.
If it ate it's head thru the wire, I'd guess coon....not sure is possum would do that, but a coon sure would.
