What injured my duck and chicken?? Help, please!

[sky's the limit]

No, I didn't see any puncture or scratch marks...
I looked the buff orpington all over, and didn't see any other marks. Didn't see anything on the duck either, but it had quite a thick set of feather which made it harder to see.

 

[BBRedCigar]

Good Luck, Keep us posted.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Did they live through that? Just wondering. And have you thought of the possibility of weasels? Perhaps a weasel got a hold of them. I've heard they can rip a bird to pieces. And also, what about the possibility that other birds did it to them? I may just be shooting in the dark. I would definitely keep an eye out for predators. It doesn't sound like a hawk or eagle attack. They would snatch a bird whole and drag it off to be eaten somewhere else, and you'd definitely find puncture marks. Here in Indiana my neighbor across the street lost 15 chickens in one night this summer when a big dog from around the corner came into their yard in the middle of the night and was pulling the birds right through the wiring. At first no one had any idea what did it, and we all thought raccoon, but then they discovered that it was the dog, and they told my DD and she came and told me. I was skeptical, until I was out in yard with my own birds as they were freeranging, and the dog appeared out of nowhere from behind another neighbor's pine tree, and he was staring right at my chickens. With people he's nice, but I grabbed him by his collar and held him while my daughter fetched a leash, and I walked him home. His owners weren't home but they have another dog tied in the back, so I took the dog back there and tied him up with that dog. I'm sure they were wondering how their dog got tied, but I was less worried about trespassing on their lawn than I was about their big monster dog eating my birds. I mean that dog is HUGE! If I had to wage a guess I'd say he's part sheperd and part coyote. I'm 5'8 and the dog stands at my hip on all 4's. He weights well over 100 lbs, and he's definitely underfed, so he would probably be around 175 at proper weight, and he has paws nearly as big as my hands. He is an enormous dog. But I was not about to let him get at my poor, defenseless little chickens. He would have destroyed most of my flock before I could stop him, and if it was left to me to stop him, I'd have had to beat him, or go get my neighbor who has a rifle, cause I don't yet have one. Who knows, maybe a dog strayed onto your property. I'd check your perimeter just to be safe. Cause that dog appeared out of nowhere with us, and my neighbors never heard him attack their birds. It was silent. It's just a thought. I hope you figure out what hurt your birds though so you know how to prevent it from happening again.

 

[sky's the limit]

Yes, they lived both lived through it! The duck wasn't moving around well (since his foot was missing), but he would still try to move out of your way if you came up to him. The chicken was wandering around the garden, not quite acting normal (he wasn't hanging around with the group he is usually with) but moving around well...

I also should mentioned before, they are fencing in by poultry netting, but we have never hooked to a battery, so there's no current going through it. We have had them out for most of the summer in it, but this is the first trouble we had.

The reason I had asked if it could be a domestic cat it that we have a couple of new cats next door, and we're concerned that they might have caused the injuries. If they might have, we'll be aasking them to make sure they are with their cats when they let them out (the cat owners are our tenants too...!)

I'm really nervous about letting my birds out of the pens this morning incase in happens again, but I don't really want to leave them penned up either

 

[sky's the limit]

An update, unforunately not good news! I had checked the rest of the birds over last night, but must have missed one...one of the Rhode Island Reds, same age as the buff orpington, lost it's entire leg too - it was removed at the joint where the thigh meets the body.

Would a mink do this sort of thing, cleanly taking a limb and leaving the injured birds behind?