Opossums

[Shannon bo]

If your coop isn't predator proof, it could be any critter who likes chicken.  Make the coop totally safe, and set live traps around it, and shoot anything that you trap, unless it's the neighbor's cat or something.   Rats are unlikely to kill an adult hen and are nearly impossible to trap.  It could have been an opossum, but it's hard to be sure.  Mary

Is it possible she just blew out from laying an egg?

 

[freakshow5]

We've been trying to catch a fox, and read online to use wet cat food so far we have caught a young red fox, not the the big grey fox who's been stalking my ducks and 2 opposum which until now I didn't know would kill my ducks
So maybe try some wet cat food

 

[feather13]

Opossums are absolutely fascinating animals and indigenous to many areas of the U.S. Their natural habitat is quickly disappearing with human encroachment and they are unfairly villlainized by people when in fact they aren't destructive and are quite gentle. That said, I've regularly found opossums in my coop, sometimes eating the chickens' food and sometimes an adult has killed and partially eaten a hen. So I fortified my coop and now they can't get in, so there's no problem. I still see them around the coop at night, but they can't get in, so there's no issue. If you do catch one, you can call your local animal control who will remove it. I grew up in a hunting culture (we grew our own food and hunted animals, going to the grocery store once a month) where there were coyotes, wolves, and other predators, but killing an animal that we didn't eat was considered to be a very negative thing. To each their own, but it's not necessary to kill things you aren't going to eat as long as you fortify your coop and don't let your chickens roost outside at night. My two cents.

 

[freakshow5]

@feather 13 I didn't kill the opposum or even the fox that killed 2 ducks. I take them to a place out in the woods that's about 10 miles away from my house.

 

[feather13]

@feather 13 I didn't kill the opposum or even the fox that killed 2 ducks. I take them to a place out in the woods that's about 10 miles away from my house.

Awesome! I'm sorry to hear about your ducks though We've lost many chickens to stray dogs, opossums, and raccoons over the years and it's always horrible.