What is killing my chickens!!!!

[BarrettG]

Something is killing my chickens. I have lost 5 in a week and a half. The chickens that were killed by this predator all have the feathers and skin on their necks ripped off. I know its not the chickens killing each other. I don't think its a racoon because nothing else is ripped or torn on them. Is it a cat, possum or fox maybe? This sucker got my lavender americana. I'm posting a gruesome pick. Please beware.

 

[sourland]

What time of day are they being killed ? Are they in a covered pen or locked coop ? Several species of predators eat the head first, but most then eat part or all of the bodies. One pred that I have dealt with that ate heads and then part of the neck was a Great Horned Owl.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Actually raccoon are often known to eat only the head and neck... but others will too, particularly if they’re grabbing them through fence wire. It’s not clear if that applies in your case.

 

[Al Capon]

Big predators, fox, coyote, bobcat will haul buns with their catch to a safe location to eat it, almost has to be one of the smaller predators.

 

[Sandyswfl]

Chicken hawk?
I had one brought to the uncleared lot and saw feet scattered feathers all over.
Racoon or chicken hawk. BTW saw the hawk the next day hovering nearby.

 

[cmom]

Most likely the predator will be back since it has been so successful. Do you have a game camera you can put up to find out what you're dealing with. I hadn't had a loss in years except recently. Somehow a predator got one of the gates open to one of the pens and killed a couple of birds and this past week I lost my very special girl while free ranging. The one predator that got the gate open came back the next night and tried again. I had some wire attached to the bottom of the gate post that was inside the gate. The next morning the wire was on the outside of the gate so something tried to open it again, but this time I had the gate wired shut. On my camera I saw a fox around that pen but didn't see the actual break in it was kind of foggy that night. Lately even during the day I have been seeing coyotes and fox. It is mating time and soon the females will be giving birth. I have a video of the fox but need to upload it. These are fairly recent videos of coyotes.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’m so sorry for your loss
Ya gotta figure out how...
They are getting in. Sad

 

[cmom]

There are so many predators that want to eat chickens. It's hard to say. In the past I have lost birds to bobcat, fox, coyote, hawks, owl and possum. I have seen coons around too but don't think any killed any of my birds. I have concrete under the gates, electric wire around the coops and pens, and heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. Good luck and I hope you find out what is killing your birds.

 

[Skipper81]

looks like the work of a possum

 

[trumpeting_angel]

How painful! Good luck figuring this out!