- Oct 29, 2009
- 69
- 1
- 29
We live in central Iowa. Yesterday between 8am and 1pm - daytime - something killed 6 young chickens, an adult hen and a duckling. They were all loose in the yard which we do when someone is home during the day. The adult hen was plucked - a big pile of feathers laying in a pile, but the body was gone. 3 of the young chickens were gone with no sign of them. 3 were laying dead with no outward sign of death and the duckling was dead with a small puncture wound.
I skinned the 3 young chickens and found about 4 puncture wounds on each, along with bruising that looked like they had been chomped on. One actually had a small chunk of breast muscle taken out of it.
We have plenty of raccoons but in the past they have attacked the heads of the birds and left them visibly seriously wounded. Also, I am under the impression they don't hunt during daylight. We also have a couple wild cats but they are more likely to take a single bird now and again, not 7 at once.
Any thoughts on what might have done this?
I skinned the 3 young chickens and found about 4 puncture wounds on each, along with bruising that looked like they had been chomped on. One actually had a small chunk of breast muscle taken out of it.
We have plenty of raccoons but in the past they have attacked the heads of the birds and left them visibly seriously wounded. Also, I am under the impression they don't hunt during daylight. We also have a couple wild cats but they are more likely to take a single bird now and again, not 7 at once.
Any thoughts on what might have done this?