I'm devastated.... (poop pictures btw..)

[21hens-incharge]

It is baby season for predators too.

Personally I think raccoon.
Here in suburbia I have seen a trio that were as big as my dog (Staffordshire terrier). Then last summer there were 5 in my neighbors front yard fussing loud enough I was drawn from sleep thinking a dog got hit on the road. I went out ready to end its suffering only to head right back in.

Raccoons are big! They are strong. If one took the chickens it may be feeding young.
That poo looked like coon poo to me.

I agree a trail cam is needed.

 

[PD-Riverman]

A raccoon will not do this damage and Carry 7 chickens off completely. Its possible more than one predators just happened to showed up on the same night.

 

[Kiki]

 

[nutmeg2356]

It all seems to have happened at roughly the same time

 

[Cindy in PA]

We don't normally have bears here either. The neighbor across the heavily traveled state road saw a bear on Sunday in his orchard. This morning my son saw it in my BIL's yard next door when he took the dog out! We had one walk through our backyard on June 1, 2007 & yes I remember the date! That year it was seen all over the area & one (same one?) was seen in the town park no 1/4 mile from my father's house in a very populated area 15 miles away. While we are in a farm area, the area is 5 miles from Reading & coated with developments in recent years & we live off a heavily traveled state road. This time of year they come down from the Blue Mountains looking for territory. Two people have estimated this one to be 200+ pounds which would make it not the normal young bear. My son works as a Forester for the PA Game Commission & sees bears quite often in his work & of course when he is hunting up north. He scoffed when told this bear was 200-250 lbs. until he saw it this morning! He took off down toward the developments behind us. It is a bit worrisome that it is a larger bear. Anyway, maybe don't completely rule out a bear. Would love to see the damage on your neighbors coop.

 

[chicknmania]

It certainly is possible that it could have been a family group of raccoons, they can do huge amounts of damage. Feral or stray dogs are another possibility. I would be surprised if it was fox. Foxes are opportunists and they usually kill cleanly, although, a family group might be a possibility, I doubt it. A coyote would also kill cleanly. I agree with 21 Hens in Charge, I thought it looked like raccoon poop, and still think it was raccoons. Get a trail cam. I doubt a bear could kill and carry off seven chickens at once.

 

[Kyanite]

Yeah, that looks like raccoon poop. They are stinky like you describe. At least the males are. They are also very strong, and even more destructive in groups. When I was younger, we had an old camper trailer that got turned into a tack and feed room. It had power and a working fridge, plus a chest freezer in there. Coons pried the door open and destroyed it. they ripped the fridge door off, tore through the feezer, tipped over 50gal drums of feed and ripped up saddles. They were caught in the act due to the noise, but if they hadn't been caught, a bear would have easily gotten the blame.
I'm very sorry for the loss of your chickens. I do agree with others that is possible some of what the coons left behind was scavenged by another predator.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Looks like a K9 attack to me.

Dogs like to play volley ball with chickens. Only trouble is that the chicken is the volley ball.

 

[jnckids]

Did you find anymore information? The thing I find odd, is that it/they hit 2 different coops.

Where in northern IL do you live? I am in Lake County up by military base and have 12 2 week old chicks (various cross breeds) if you or your neighbor are interested. We can't be too far apart.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

Racoons do travel in packs. I once had an RV, and one night a family of them got on my roof. It was quite a commotion with them walking around and trying to pry open the roof skylight/vent.