somethng got 2 of my chickens.

[chickencity]

i just moved my bantam chicks (2 months) to the coop. i have never lost any of my chickens. but today i was missing one EE chick and my white chick. one was completly gone. no feathers or blood. the other was pulled through the side of the nest. i use milk crates as nest boxes. what ever it was just ate the belly area and left no blood. i leave the door on the coop open about 2 inches. b/c im not home in the morning to let them out. i also have one grown bantam that dosent roost and sleeps in the nest and she was not bothered. all four of the bantam chicks sleep in the same nest but only two were attacked. i have seen a mouse in there before, but i doubt it was big enough to take a chicken. there was mouse poop near the nest. i have two goats that stay beside the coop. any ideas of what it could have been?

 

[jhm47]

Coon, mink, weasel, skunk, possibly a feral cat. Most likely a coon.

 

[vnploveschickens]

Check out the sticky thread, Poultry Predator Identification, at the top.
Might help figure out the mystery predator.

 

[omelette'smom]

How sad......sorry

 

[melissastraka]

 

[chickencity]

im thinking it might have been a ratcoon or possum. im missing some eggs today too. i moved the nest boxes and shut the coop door tight. if he gets in tonight maybe it'll get confused and leave. thanks for the replys

 

[chickencity]

I lost another chicken last night. there was a small crack in the wall and it tried to pull him through the crack and just got his head

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Coons are pretty clever with their front paws and will pull chickens through wire and cracks and bite their heads off. One of my hens was sitting and a racoon bit her head off.

Possums usually go for the backend or breast meat and usually do not pull anything through fencing...