Something killed my pullet

[stp007]

This morning I went to open our coop to let the girls out into their run and found one of my brahma pullets dead in the middle of the coop. (9 weeks old and pretty big) My other 3 pullets were fine and the 12 hens were fine. She had blood on her face and beak. Her head and neck were soaking wet. I'm thinking snake. In three years I've never had a predator so I'm pretty shook about it. I could use some advice. Is this most likely a snake and if so, what is the best way to attack this? I'll bring the pullets inside at night until it's safe since they don't roost up high yet. I've also got one huge buff that won't roost and likes to asleep in a nesting box too. Should I bring her in? Should I put lights in the coop at night? I made sure they were all tucked in and counted at 9 last night so it happened in the middle of the night. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[PoultryCQ]

This morning I went to open our coop to let the girls out into their run and found one of my brahma pullets dead in the middle of the coop. (9 weeks old and pretty big) My other 3 pullets were fine and the 12 hens were fine. She had blood on her face and beak. Her head and neck were soaking wet. I'm thinking snake. In three years I've never had a predator so I'm pretty shook about it. I could use some advice. Is this most likely a snake and if so, what is the best way to attack this? I'll bring the pullets inside at night until it's safe since they don't roost up high yet. I've also got one huge buff that won't roost and likes to asleep in a nesting box too. Should I bring her in? Should I put lights in the coop at night? I made sure they were all tucked in and counted at 9 last night so it happened in the middle of the night. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Okay, so theres a few things you can do. First of all, is your nesting box taller than your roost? I recommend moving them manually on to their roost every night. Hopefully they will catch on and go themselves. No need for a light, but make sure that your coop is predator proof. Do you have a wire apron going around the coop?

 

[cmom]

I suspect a snake. If you have a camera, put it up, I love my cameras. You'll have to figure out where the breach is or it's hiding place. Good luck...

 

[stp007]

I suspect a snake. If you have a camera, put it up, I love my cameras. You'll have to figure out where the breach is or it's hiding place. Good luck...

Thank you!

 

[stp007]

Okay, so theres a few things you can do. First of all, is your nesting box taller than your roost? I recommend moving them manually on to their roost every night. Hopefully they will catch on and go themselves. No need for a light, but make sure that your coop is predator proof. Do you have a wire apron going around the coop?

No the nesting box is lower but I can manually move her every night up to the roost. Hopefully she'll catch on. We've been predator proofing today and we did put a net apron around the entire coop and run. Fingers crossed! Thank you for your help