what did this? Graphic Photo

[chickenmansc]

One of my girls was found dead this morning. I have no ideal what killed her. Her head was missing and her back was opened to reveal her insides. her internal organs was missing.

 

[ChickenGrit]

I think head missing is usually an owl or other bird. I am certainly not an expert though. Maybe someone else has more experience.

 

[elisec]

Are they in a hen house at night? Do you have racoons? If they roost on the open it could be a coyote, bobcat, or owl. Fox tend to drag birds away.

 

[venery]

That is from a raccoon. They will typically tear off the head and toss it aside someplace then eat the insides and breast area. usually you,ll have a wing, leg or two left of the dead bird. Take precautions immediately cause it or they will be back until all your birds are gone. I have my coop inside of a large dog fence. Around that fence I have the run secured with a double layer of wire and rocks so they cant dig under or yank the birds thru the holes in the fence.....yea...they do that too, however, I have several small trees inside the run so the birds have shade. Some of the branches extend out and over the coop to neighboring tree branches, and wouldn't you know the raccoons used the trees like squirrels to get into the run and ultimately the coop at night, when the figure out the puzzle.... I've used have a heart traps to catch them using cat food as bait, but you,ll never get all of them like that....The most effective way is too drop a bag of corn down and sit with a rifle. Between the hours of 9 to midnight is when I have the most success and can see just how many are in their clan. I have had as many as 5, feeding at one time on the corn. Once you get rid of them, you,ll be good for a year or so until they repopulate the area, extend their range and find your food supply.

To give you an idea of how smart and organized they are....I buried some fish in my garden once about 18inches into the ground, then started to notice holes in my garden. I set up a camera to see what was creepin and at night the raccoons would come. Some would dig up the fish and pass it off to another raccoon who would transport it into the woods....until all the fish was dug up. That's probably why they wear that mask.....straight up thieves....lol.....anyway I hope my experience is helpful.

V

 

[MiniMeadows]

Agree its a raccoon and agree the best removal method is a .22 if you are in a location where you can shoot. raccoons we are up against were relased we think. They are not only trap shy, but we watched the momma fire off the trap and proceed to eat the cat food from the outside.

 

[Frampton]

If you are going to use a live trap to catch them you need to cover the end with the bait or they will just trip the trap and reach in through the slots to get the food. I have caught a lot of racoons using that type of trap and something else I learned is to tie the trap to something that wont move. I was dumbfounded the first time I had to go halfway down the hill to get my trap back!

 

[scooter147]

Here is what I do to catch a raccoon with a live trap. I use sardines as bait. I then dig a hole about 6 inches deep and place the sardine can in the hole, place the trap over the hole and I place a big cinder block on the trap to keep them from turning it over. The raccoons then have to go into the trap to try and get the sardines. I have never had this fail.

 

[MiniMeadows]

awesome! I will try this tonight. Thanks!

MM

 

[Cowgirl212]

I also agree its probably a raccoon.
My husband and I have trapped many of these banded bandits in all sorts of places. We use a dog proof foot trap, these traps are AWESOME! What you do is set this trap up with a small handful of cat food, small dog food or catfish feed(we use this) down inside the trap. Then we use a sweet bait lure which is a mixture of honey, corn syrup and vanilla. Raccoons LOVE sweet things and they cant resist. We drop this syrup mixture onto the food inside, and a few drops around the trap to get them interested. This trap is set up so the raccoon has to reach down inside the tube and grab the food inside, once they grab and try to pull their paw out it sets off the trap. Once you trap the coon your .22 will come in handy. This is great so you wont have to wait to shoot it, and is not as intimidating as a live trap. Here's a link to show you what this trap looks like:
http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Dog-Proo...id=1377124530&sr=8-1&keywords=dog+proof+traps

Here's a link to show how this works:

Good Luck and hopefully it wont get anymore of your chickens!

 

[MiniMeadows]

Scooter, Worked like a charm. Have one sitting in the trap now and was able to pick off two buddies who came to break her out. The hole in the ground is a great innovation. Did not have marshmallows so crammed tortilla flour mixed with sardine juice in a can and a bit of sardine in the hole. At least they receive a better last meal than my chickens did...

I will post the trap picture in the AM.

Thank you very much!