Mystery predator ate only brains and kidneys!

[Dutchgirl]

Today I went out to care for the animals. This was after our duckling was devoured by something on our back deck (we think a snake).

So I was already upset. And I look in the nestboxes, and in one of them I see an unrecognizable mass of flesh and feathers.

Further inspection showed that the mystery predator had eaten only the brains and kidneys. The rest was left. The head is still there, but it is torn open.

The victim was a broody bantam Cochin hen. The body was left in the nestbox, the feathers were contained and many still remained on the body.

What could have been the predator?

 

[Dutchgirl]

It's possible, though, that it did not remove the kidneys, because I am told that it ate whatever was located near the lower back. I believe the predator ate by way of the back, not the stomach or vent.

 

[zazouse]

Sounds like a very big rat

 

[Dutchgirl]

Actually that may be a suspect. When going out to the coop a few days ago I saw something that looked like a rat. It was golden-brown with a long, light-colored tail. It was heading toward the coop but ran back into the woods when it saw me coming.

 

[zazouse]

Oh know, that sounds more like something from the weasel family, google
weasel and check out the images, they come in
all different sizes and colors.
Sorry you lost your hen and baby

 

[Dutchgirl]

The animal I saw was almost definitely a rat (or possibly a very big mouse) and was not a weasel. Are you suggesting that it was a weasel that killed them?

 

[ESofVA]

It was a weasel. They eat the brains of their prey first and organs next. They generally kill at the neck or head. The color you describe is right, too.

 

[zazouse]

You said it was golden brown, i do not know where you are from but the rats around here are dark brown mixture like a rabbits fur or gray, so golden brown made me thing weasel

 

[Dutchgirl]

Unless my memory fails me, I did NOT see a weasel. I saw a ball with a tail.

Regardless of what I SAW, I'm going to trust you that it was a weasel that killed the chicken. What can we do to prevent it from happening again? Our chickens are in a large chain-link run with wide chicken wire across the top.

 

[josephnlauren]

woodchuck? i just watched one eat one of my girls.