What is killing my hens? ***WARNING*** GRAPHIC IMAGE

[Gumbydarnit]

I came home today to a chicken that looked just like that except the head was gone. Kinda figured it was a hawk.looks like I was right. Wish it would have gotten one of my many roosters instead of a hen.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I came home today to a chicken that looked just like that except the head was gone. Kinda figured it was a hawk.looks like I was right. Wish it would have gotten one of my many roosters instead of a hen.

Cheer up, it will be back so you may get your wish.

Exiting sarcasm mode

 

[farmrDAN]

Hawks are ambush predators. Anyone who thinks otherwise has watched too many Disney fairy tails about nature. What ever ate your hen did not swoop out of the wild blue yonder nor did it have teeth, and fangs, to slash, grind, and tear apart it's victim. Your hen was ate much like a small child eats a plate of spaghetti. One strip or string at a time resulting in a fully articulated skeleton like that one in your image.

Did anyone else read this and think, "holy ****, that is like straight out of CSI or something", Because thats what I was thinkin haha.

 

[farmrDAN]

At one time I wanted to be a falconer, but after much research it was just too big of a commitment and opted out. Seeing that video was badass, but makes me feel sorry for my girls. They have no chance if a hawk finds a gap in my netting. Like, literally no chance. No wonder the other two were so easy to get a hold of.

 

[socal951]

Good to know.the new run I built doesn't have a cover.wasn't thinking of other birds swooping in and taken my chickens.

 

[gifters]

Interesting, I found the pluck site for my hen Rouen duck right by a pond they frequent. A mess of feathers, a little bit of digestive tract and an intact egg. No carcass.

I figured bird of prey. We'd been out of town and the neighbor kid was letting opening and closing the coop for them

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[icemanabk]

Did anyone else read this and think, "holy ****, that is like straight out of CSI or something", Because thats what I was thinkin haha.

 

[Celine Samuel]

Looks like I will be putting up netting. The thing that is strange though is that one of the kill sites was in between the fence (6' tall) and the coop (10' tall) which has a gap just big enough for a person to walk by. I don't know how a hawk would be able to shoot through that small of a gap. Also, I don't know if this is also a sign of a hawk attack or not, but both locations had white lines of bird poop. Like if I took a restaurant bottle of ketchup and squeezed it quick, it would like the same except this is clearly white bird poop.

Squirrel

 

[spepper1616]

Has anyone ever had a hawk come into the coop and kill? I found a hen this morning inside the coop with the head and neck completely cleaned like the above photo. There has been a hawk in the area the last few days but I have no way to cover the run. Anything to keep them away?