I went to the barn this morning and found only a handful of chickens left. The turkeys, peacocks and the old rooster are okay. One small breed duck was stumbling around with a bloody head. Two big breed ducks and some silkie roos and a full grown chicken I found dead, all with the same head wounds. Something bit them all in the head. I am missing almost 30 chickens, no sign of them. There is only a handful of feathers in the barn and all the babies (3 mos. old) chicks are gone, vanished without trace. There are several bloody patches in the fresh shavings i just put all over the barn yesterday. There is no smell. No signs of chicken guts either. We've scourred all around the barn and no tracks in the snow, no sign of our birds either. I can't imagine how they got in, as every thing was still hunkered down as safe as we could make it. I'm devasted. We have a have a heart trap that we'll set outside the barn door tonight. I just can't imagine what could have eaten all those birds in one night and leave NO trace of them. The 6 that were dead all had their heads bit into, huge gashes and left to die. What could this be? I'm in Vermont. I hear coyotes at night sometimes, but they can't fit in the barn, they can't get in? The snow is hard due to recent rains then colder weather so no tracks.
thanks for any input....
-Kathy
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