lost her head

[mahabharat]

i'm seeing lots of mentions of birds with their heads off after being pulled through the fence. what about a free-ranging chicken who was chased a bit (feather trail) and then lost her head, body left untouched? what predator wouldn't eat the body of a bird who was free for the taking? racoon? thanks.

 

[annie3001]

sounds like the works of a raccoon. sorry for your loss.

 

[colebarnhart]

It's hard to say..... Were the insides removed? Some predators just want the chewed up food inside the crop. Skunks will just take the head and suck the blood.

 

[mahabharat]

only thing missing is the head. just like it's been guillotined.

 

[colebarnhart]

Neighbor dogs will just kill them and not eat them because they're usually well fed and not hungry and just kill for a territorial thing. I think almost every predator removes the head so as I said it's hard to say what it was or could've been and maybe something scared it and it ran off before eating the body.

 

[mahabharat]

Quote:
yes, i didn't think of that. dh leaves the house for work early in the am - i wonder if he could have scared it off mid-consumption...

how do i protect the remaining 5 that roost in the tree at night? i can't catch them and can't reach them once they are up there. the other 6 birds go into the coop at night and we shut it at dark. the ones in the trees are sitting ducks (so to speak!) for early morning predators.

 

[sourland]

GHO start with the head quite frequently - brains are very nutritious. Perhaps your husband inadvertantly scared one away after the kill took place.

 

[colebarnhart]

Quote:
yes, i didn't think of that. dh leaves the house for work early in the am - i wonder if he could have scared it off mid-consumption...

how do i protect the remaining 5 that roost in the tree at night? i can't catch them and can't reach them once they are up there. the other 6 birds go into the coop at night and we shut it at dark. the ones in the trees are sitting ducks (so to speak!) for early morning predators.

Yes they are and just a matter of time before they get picked off and headless also. If you don't already have a light inside your coop, then you could try that and see if that works it should motivate them to go inside before you lock up at night.