neck only, who is the killer (picture added)

[besjoux]

Picture added at bottom - graphic.

Broad daylight too and right next to the run. We have had our barn cats kill 2 weasels in the past few months. Could it be the cats or a weasel? The hen was found under a really think bramble rose bush with just the neck chewed on. I found the rooster and 3 of his hens in the coop and 2 other strays came out of the woods next to their coop. Then over an hour later 3 other hens (whom I also thought were killed and taken off) came back. They are all (obviously) really acting strange and they were all hiding in the woods. I forgot too, all of the feathers we plucked right next to the hen and just a bald and eaten head and neck (nothing else touched).

 

[Poultryboy15]

most likely a weasle or a mink or a play full cat but my money is on a youn mink thats beginning to hunt on its own

 

[besjoux]

That freaks me out because they might be able to get in the run if they can climb. We did the hardware cloth on the bottom 3-4 feet and underground. However, the top is the 2x3 fencing.

I have the game came on the kill right now. Probably shouldn't leave it out but, ohhhh well I want to learn who is around. The weasels the cat kill are ONLY out at night so this surprised me. We built fork knox of a coop. The run is everything but weasel proof.

Do weasels strip all the feathers off the head and neck? Every feather is stripped and around the kill. No wonder my girls who were in the woods didn't want to come back. They were terrified when I found them

 

[besjoux]

Well, nothing on the trail cam. Something was there at 1:30 but could not get a picture.....it moved too fast so it could be a weasel. Leaving the cam during the day to see what is coming around. I think I might leave the chickies in the coop today until we get a solar charger for our run.

 

[bumpercarr]

I put my trail cam on video, it usually catches whatever is hanging out around the coop. The problem with the still photos is that if it misses the shot the first time, by the time the delay is done the varmint is usually gone.

 

[zazouse]

I put my trail cam on video, it usually catches whatever is hanging out around the coop. The problem with the still photos is that if it misses the shot the first time, by the time the delay is done the varmint is usually gone.

Can you set it to video or 3 shot sequence? mine does that also how far off the ground do you have it set?
I learned that i could set camera up on cender blocks the kind with 2 holes and i get 100's of great shots in a night on my game trail, it gets even the lowest critter walking by even rats sometimes and you can put it just about anywhere without having to remount it, you just move the block with the camera atached.

 

[besjoux]

Can you set it to video or 3 shot sequence? mine does that also how far off the ground do you have it set?
I learned that i could set camera up on cender blocks the kind with 2 holes and i get 100's of great shots in a night on my game trail, it gets even the lowest critter walking by even rats sometimes and you can put it just about anywhere without having to remount it, you just move the block with the camera atached.

i just did that with mine, propped it up. hoping to get better shots.

 

[besjoux]

2 days later, nothing on the game camera and our chicken still looks like the above. Going to bury her today

 

[Shannah]

Hi! I'm a newbie in the chicken world and unfortunately I had the exact same thing happen to one of my chickens (and 2 more were killed just for fun-3 of 7 gone in one night!!). My boyfriend used to do a lot of trapping said it is mostly likely a weasel. I have had a variety of traps out for the last week (spring trap, weasel box and a even a sticky trap) but he is very trap wary and trips them and takes the bait or digs under them to try and get into the coop. I have since put hardware cloth on the whole floor but he is determined and has dug out about 2/3 of the floor under the wire. The next step I'm trying is poison (and a .22 if that doesn't work, but until I get him my chickens are stressed out every night and refusing to lay...I don't blame them!!

Anyone have any other ideas about how to trap him or keep him away from my coop?

 

[kreagerm]

Hi! I'm a newbie in the chicken world and unfortunately I had the exact same thing happen to one of my chickens (and 2 more were killed just for fun-3 of 7 gone in one night!!). My boyfriend used to do a lot of trapping said it is mostly likely a weasel. I have had a variety of traps out for the last week (spring trap, weasel box and a even a sticky trap) but he is very trap wary and trips them and takes the bait or digs under them to try and get into the coop. I have since put hardware cloth on the whole floor but he is determined and has dug out about 2/3 of the floor under the wire. The next step I'm trying is poison (and a .22 if that doesn't work, but until I get him my chickens are stressed out every night and refusing to lay...I don't blame them!!

Anyone have any other ideas about how to trap him or keep him away from my coop?

I personally wouldn't use poison, but If you think it's a mink and you don't have dogs or cats around, here is a sure fire way to catch pretty much any critter. I used to trap many years ago and my best results always came from this method. First you'll need a steel leg trap (bigger then a muskrat trap), dig a hole angled into the earth, not straight, make it about a foot deep. Place the bait at the back end, could be road kill, maybe a dead crow or what ever you can find. Place the steel trap at the entrance just covered lightly with leaves. mask the front of the hole with small sticks so the critter has to step in front of the hole to move the small sticks out of the way to enter the hole. Mink and weasels are very smart so you have to take into consideration not leaving anything out of place or they will avoid the trap. Don't be surprised if you have a coon, fox or opossum, all critters you don't want around your cop anyway. Then you can use the .22 to dispose of the critter, when that time comes. Always check your trap so the critter is not left suffering for to long. Good luck!!!