Help Identifying Predator

[Cmacc]

Hello everyone. I' am new to BYC and to raising chickens. We had our first predator attack yesterday and I am heartbroken. I keep trying to piece together the evidence to identify the pest. Clues:
1. Our gal was completely eaten, except for wings and feet. (I've read domestic cats can do this? But we have not seen a cat around and live away from other folks.).
2. She was still inside the enclosure, but I wasn't able to identify exactly where bc my dog retrieved her.
3. Feathers everywhere.
4. All 8 other hens were untouched.
Additionally, I found 2 piles of unidentified scat inside the coop and one outside in the run. Unsure if it happened at night or during the day. We are in rural Vermont. The predator must have gained access to the run by going over or found a weak spot in fence to climb under and then into the coop via the ramp. No real obvious entry point, though the one corner of the enclosure seems to have more pieces of feather stuck around the wire fencing. Attaching a poo pic. Though I know we may never know, any advice would be appreciated. Want to prevent from happening again. So sad.

 

[oregonkat]

That looks like raccoon poop to me but the fact that your other birds were untouched is a mystery. This may be a young coon who has not yet figured out that he is supposed to slaughter everyone in the vicinity, I know.... sorry!! They are absolutely ruthless and brutal and can see perfectly at night which makes it very hard for the chickens who are almost blind at night!
Best recommendation is to get an automatic door on your coop and much more secure fencing. This creature will be back, probably tonight. If you can, for a temporary measure, make absolutely sure that the entry via ramp is secured. Remember that coons are VERY clever so anything that you use to secure that entry needs to be solid. Good luck. If you are allowed to trap them where you live, I recommend doing so.

 

[oregonkat]

Oh, and , sorry it is in such miserable circumstances.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There isn't much to go on. However were the bones articulated, or did you just recover 4 particles of chicken, like 2 wings and 2 feet.

 

[roosterhavoc]

It does look like raccoon and like was already said it not the “norm” for a raccoon to eat it all. Usually they waste most of the bird. They won’t always kill them all though. I think it depends how the other birds react. Many times the other birds barely make a peep.
If you don’t have electric fence around you should close the coop door at night.

 

[Cmacc]

Hello again. Thanks to all who have responded. We also felt that the scat was raccoon, so this is in line with our thinking. However, I was not sure because lots of the info I found online suggested that raccoons will often waste most of the bird, eating just a little (the crop), and that they are apt to kill more than one bird.

Roosterhavoc, do you think that it is possible that the raccoon drug the one out to the pen and that's why only one was harmed? chickengeorgeto, the body was still articulated. Thank you oregonkat for your kind words. I am just so upset with myself for not closing the ramp door. We never had any issues before and got careless. We have a door that slides up (connected to ramp). Might raccoons be able to lift this up (I have read that they are very dexterous)? Additionally, we live off grid, so I don't know that an electric fence would work for us. Would solar powered motion lights deter a raccoon?

 

[roosterhavoc]

Hello again. Thanks to all who have responded. We also felt that the scat was raccoon, so this is in line with our thinking. However, I was not sure because lots of the info I found online suggested that raccoons will often waste most of the bird, eating just a little (the crop), and that they are apt to kill more than one bird.

Roosterhavoc, do you think that it is possible that the raccoon drug the one out to the pen and that's why only one was harmed? chickengeorgeto, the body was still articulated. Thank you oregonkat for your kind words. I am just so upset with myself for not closing the ramp door. We never had any issues before and got careless. We have a door that slides up (connected to ramp). Might raccoons be able to lift this up (I have read that they are very dexterous)? Additionally, we live off grid, so I don't know that an electric fence would work for us. Would solar powered motion lights deter a raccoon?

More than likely a raccoon just pulled that one hen out. Raccoons don’t come every night either. Sometimes they will sometimes it will be a week or more. They’re strange animals. Since you live off grid I would just set traps. Dead raccoons don’t come back again.
Cages are expensive and the cages they sell at feed stores are junk.
DP raccoon traps are the easiest for you. They’re about $10 each.

 

[Cmacc]

Thanks roosterhavoc. I took a look at traps online. I think this is the route will need to take. I just can’t wrap my head around the two pops left in the coop. So odd. Would a raccoon do that before or after the kill and where were the other chickens? I guess I’ll never know. Thanks for your advice! I appreciate it.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Thanks roosterhavoc. I took a look at traps online. I think this is the route will need to take. I just can’t wrap my head around the two pops left in the coop. So odd. Would a raccoon do that before or after the kill and where were the other chickens? I guess I’ll never know. Thanks for your advice! I appreciate it.

I’m not gonna lie. It is kinda weird.
Over the years I’ve had raccoons kill one bird. Kill 11 birds. Wound like 15 and only kill 1-2. I don’t know what your coop looks like but they may have been on the roost? Raccoon(s) may have pulled one down and pulled it outside.
Raccoons are brutal and chickens are kinda dumb. A pair of raccoons can harass chickens in a fenced in area and sometimes a chicken will stick its head through the wire wishing it could get away Unfortunately this usually results in the raccoon removing their heads.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hello again. Thanks to all who have responded... chickengeorgeto, the body was still articulated....

Raccoons have incisors, K9s, premolars, and molars. Therefore a coon is well equipped to crush, cut, grind, chew, and destroy muscle tissue, bones, cartilage, and connective tissue. On the other hand birds of prey only have mouth parts like those found on a parakeet, meaning a rather small hooked beak. Hawks, owls, and eagles feed by stripping strips of flesh off of an often still living victim. This means that the skeleton or bone structure of raptor victims will invariably still be articulated but the meat or muscle tissue will be missing.

The purpose of this post is to warn you not to put all your predator prevention eggs in one basket. You may have a completely different predator from a raccoon to deal with. This is especially true when there is no top on your coop or run.