two chickens dead....does this sound like a hawk to you?

[cbenson6820]

The pullet that was mostly devoured wasn't very big so i could see a good sized weasel eating the whole thing. I'm hoping its a hawk and not a weasel. I've heard horror stories about how hard weasels are to catch and keep out.

 

[chookchik]

minks attack in broad daylight, we also live near water. We've tried to trap it and keep a very careful eye on our hens so it doesn't happen again. I did a little research on mink and they go for the throat and head, if they're really hungry they'll eat more of the bird, especially in early spring or whenever food is scarce.

 

[Vamvakas]

Hawks tend to not eat much and eat the neck area mostly. I don't know anything about weasel or minks sorry.

 

[cbenson6820]

i saw a pretty big red tail hawk this morning close to the chickens but no more attacks. I still don't know what attacked my chickens.

 

[Gallus Sapien]

sounds like a mink

 

[josebeth1]

For those who think this is mink, I really don't agree........

Go to youtube, search "Mink Attack" by Dave Raven (there's more than one clip with that title). My understanding is from my friend who is an old old-timer trapper. Also, another swan breeder who is also an old timer (he actually put chickens twice in a cage with a mink and observed how the mink killed the chickens--yeach!) gave me a very detailed description of the whole thing!

Both of them say that the minks kill by biting the bird on the back of the head in a specific spot that seems to render the bird immediately immobile and non-resistant. The minks often don't even do anything else at all to the bird and just leave the carcass with only a bite mark to be seen.

I looked into this after the first of 2 juvie swans I sold ended up like this at the edge of the buyer's beautiful pond. A couple months later, the second youngster was found dead-- also perfectly intact with only a bite on the back of his head. I have told many folks about this experience which was even sadder because I had been so thrilled when these babies went to this new home. The buyer's pond and layout were so beautiful and seemed like paradise for them--then it turned out to be quite the opposite.

This is why I make such a big deal about predator protection when I post my swans for sale!!

 

[sourland]

Although generalizations may be made about how a particular breed of predator kills, individuals within that breed will/may develop there own signature method that works for them. I have lost innumerable Birmingham rollers to Coopers hawks. Almost all are killed from above as the kit banks to land on their loft. One very large Coopers hen developed a technique 180 degrees from the norm. She would come across my backyard about a foot off the ground, flip from beneath the flock and snag a pigeon. Like all animals, predators use that which works for them.