OMG!!!!Headless duck in coop this morn!!WHAT???WHY???

[chickfillhay]

I went to tend to my chickens/ducks this morning and found "Bentley" without a head. Just lying there. What in the world would possibly take just the head and not the whole body??????????

My coop is pretty secure but I did see a spot where something forced its way in. And to make matters worse, the chickens panicked and a ladder they used to perch on fell and blocked the opening from closing.

The predator got in by why not take the whole bird?

Could my rooster have done it? Maybe I just didn't find the head yet?

 

[McChix]

How sad! I'm sorry for your loss.

My guess would be: racoon, skunk, or weasel - do you have any of these predators where you live?

 

[kaylakala]

How scary!!

 

[reallemons1]

Disgusting. Sorry. Guess the animal got in but couldn't get the duck out.

 

[chickfillhay]

Thanks guys!!!!!

I feel terrible about Bentley. Named so because he had a funny shape about him. Bent to one side on the neck. It looked like it had a hole. I had posted easter pictures of Bentley and Mercedes about a week before easter. Take a look if you are curious. They are beatiful and sweet. Mercedes still squeeks like a baby in between honks. Bentley was a full honker already. Now I find myself looking for another Peking duck to keep Mercedes company.

I live in North/Central Florida. A small town called Trenton. About an hour north of Ocala. If you know of anybody with a duck. Let me know.
Thanks.
Celia

 

[kartking22]

Your preditor is most likely a rat. They will kill and eat as much as they can, come back and eat some more until the flesh is gone. Bait sticks are the best to get rid of these rodents. Don't use bait pellets in the coop. The chickens can eat the pellets and the rats usually carry them into their hole to store for later use. Bait sticks are too big for chickens to eat plus too big for rats to drag into thier hole. The rats need to chew them up to get them into thier nest. Bye Bye rats.....

 

[gila_dog]

I lost a big fat hen the same way. No head. A couple of days later the mystery was solved. A little hawk came streaking thru the pen and made a grab for a chicken's head but missed. Had he grabbed her head, at the speed he was going, her head would have just popped right off since she was so heavy.

 

[Double-T-Family-Farm]

same exact thing happened to me.. and we later found out it was a pair of owls... it could also probably be a hawk of some kind

 

[SpottedCrow]

Raccoon

but I did see a spot where something forced its way in

A rat is more likely to chew it's way in or dig.​

 

[bigreyhorse]

I had some kittens in a cage to keep them safe (

- like that worked), and one day I walked in and there as one of them with no head, apparently she crawled out and my sister and I checked around the cage, there was a new skunk nest under there. So skunks will do that as well.

bigrey