Help please, something got my chicken and noone can figure it out.

[PortageGirl]

I never heard that about weasels, but we dont' really have them here (we do have minks, which are close cousins!) so it's not really a topic around my chickeny friends. huh! learn something new every day here on BYC!

Possums, (ok, opossums) will eat the guts out of em that way... not sure what's most prevelant in your area though. Raccoons will usually eat more of the meat. All this is 'usually' though, so ... hard to say.

Were there any tracks? Depending on what the ground is like outside your coop, you could take a collander or flour sifter and sprinkle a thin coating of flour all around your coop, then look for tracks the next morning. The culprit might return to the scene of the crime!

 

[mmurry1]

There are bear here, but I agree it probably wouldn't be so gentle. I'm not sure about weasel we're gonna have to look into that. As far as tracks and flour, we have many chickens and three pygmy goats in the pen, so besides the dirt and grass being hard other than the dust baths, it's very hard to find any track at all.
Again thank you all for your input.
Hey, by the way is that a better tittle?

 

[jerseygirl1]

I think so, it made me open it up again!!!!!

 

[clhbubba]

First of all, Welcome to BYC. I don't believe anyone on here would shun you just because you are new. More likely, no one is sure of what happened. I've not been around for too long but have always gotten great info and help from the great people on here who enjoy sharing their knowledge with those of us who don't have quite as much! My only experience that might be similar might be a possum. Coyotes around here snatch and run, racoons are gluttons and often will take more than one and destroy the body quite a bit, they like heads, hawks around here might leave a pile of feathers but no sign of the body. Again, welcome and good luck figuring out you predator.

 

[mmurry1]

After hours of researching weasel I found that we have two varieties here, long tail and short tail. Weasel will typically kill as many critters as possible in hope to store the excess for when there is no available food source. They kill prey by biting the head or neck and drinking the warm blood and saving the rest for later. So I guess it is kinda like a vampire or Dracula in a sense. I am still not sure though, everything I have read I think it would be visible on the neck or head from the multiple descriptions. Also, a raccoon can eat all of the meat and leave an almost intact carcass. I am still unsure and would appreciate if anyone has any more suggestions, ideas or maybe something a little more definite.

 

[PortageGirl]

Quote:
That's why you scatter the flour at night after everyone is in tucked in for the night, and then get out early to 'read' the tracks left in the flour... maybe. It's worked a time or two for people but it's just a thought. Sorry not to be able to help any more. If you know of any hunters or birdwatchers who might have a wildlife cam, maybe one of them would help you set it up for a few nights so you can see what kind of visitors you have at night.

 

[newchickmom09]

To me it sounds like some person got your chicken and did that to it.

What you describe doesn't sound like anything I have seen or heard of an animal doing before.

Any animal that I have seen like that before has been eaten out my magets or flies.

That takes a couple of days.

Sorry for your loss, hopefully you can find what happened to your chicken.