What is killing my chicks--neck wound

[princessmama]

Second time finding one of my chicks in the middle of the coop with a neck wound, skin stripped off of head. The second one had all the neck except the bone eaten away and a small wound under one wing. The first time I thought a racoon or fox had bitten it through the wire and the other chicks had pecked at it. This time I'm not so sure. All the chicks are fully feathered except for the two that were killed. Their developement had slowed way down and they still didn't have all their feathers (well, one had been slow from the start, I think they were both roosters.) They are in a coop with three bantams, two hens (one with four tiny chicks) and a rooster, that my FIL brought home a couple weeks ago.

 

[zazouse]

Sorry for your loss.

A rat will do this, i had it happen once when a chick did not make it in at night, found her on the shelf outside the coop the next morning, i knew it was a rat because i had set some watermellon seeds on that shelf and you could see where it had sat there and ate all the seeds.

 

[Momnpop2010]

You can rule out a coon since it wasn't pulled through the wire

 

[RAWR]

rat

im sorry about your chicks