Something eating my chicks legs

[Teila]

I just hope it doesn't happen again.

Gees OrangeGrove me too .. that is just awful for your little ones

Do you have or any chance of getting or borrowing a game cam that you could have on their new coop for a while?

 

[OrangeGrove]

It is really bad! Out of all of them only 2 were so tame that they always run to me when I open the coop. Then in the evenings those two come out and sit on the table before dinner. It was one of those two that was injured. It seems to get around fine hopping on one leg ... I just hope it can manage as it gets bigger. My son has a GoPro I will set up in the new coop.

 

[Beekissed]

Rats. They can chew through any mesh you may have. I'd put out some poison. I'd cull the one legged bird...it's just cruel to let it live that way.

 

[OrangeGrove]

I tend to think it's rats too. Hard to put out poison or traps as I have free range chickens and many other animals.

 

[pa2chitown]

Its difficult without all the info, but ratscgetting IN would not rip the entire leg off and carry it away without a trace. I imagine a rat could grab hold from ouside and not let go while the chicken struggles to pull free?
I think that whatever it is has grabbed hold from outside.
It just doesnt seem that it can or would get inside and just rip a leg off and vanish.
I originally thought rat, but i didnt know it was the entire leg. I think rats could get in and chew a foot off?

I rememer seeing a show on "wolvetines, tasmanian devils" or some similar animal in south africa. It was about bee farming. Those animals were SO smart. They can even move branches against a wall to climb up etc....

 

[Hholly]

That is so weird. Could it be a human who has it in for you? Was there blood all over, or in a specific area?

 

[pa2chitown]

I found a ref to the show i saw...
Honey badger... They are SMART!
https://m.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/23d87s/astonishing_smart_honey_badger_who_is_able_to/
"Honey badgers favor bee honey, and will often search for beehives to get it, which earns them their name. They are also carnivorous and will eat insects, frogs, tortoises, rodents, turtles, lizards, snakes, eggs, and birds. Honey badgers have even been known to chase away young lions and take their kills."

 

[pa2chitown]

You know meerkats will eat chickens right? I watched a video, the meerkat took le appendages off a dead chick FAST!

 

[Beekissed]

I tend to think it's rats too. Hard to put out poison or traps as I have free range chickens and many other animals.

If you have a building nearby~storage shed or feed room~where the animals can't get it, you can place it there and rats will find it. The other animals won't touch the dead rats that crawl out...I have free range chickens, dogs and cats and none of them will touch the poisoned rats. Won't even get near them....mostly animals won't consume another animal that has died of sickness.

 

[OrangeGrove]

If you have a building nearby~storage shed or feed room~where the animals can't get it, you can place it there and rats will find it.  The other animals won't touch the dead rats that crawl out...I have free range chickens, dogs and cats and none of them will touch the poisoned rats.  Won't even get near them....mostly animals won't consume another animal that has died of sickness. 

Thanks, good idea I will do that.

Nothing can "pull" the legs off, the coop has concrete walls. So it must get in to eat the stuff