What killed my chicken? *GRAPHIC PHOTO*

[britneyT]

Welp, something got our Wyandotte sometime between yesterday evening and this afternoon. We’ve had the whole head chewed off, missing chicken, etc. but nothing quite like this. We found this girl in the middle of the pasture they run on (our chickens are about as free-range as they can be). Usually they are in the barn at night, so I’m wondering if this happened early this morning maybe. She was on her side, head and neck intact (neck did not seem broken), but her bones had pretty much been pecked clean on one side. Only the heart (I think) was left. The carcass was still wet and she wasn’t stiff, so that’s another reason I wondered if it happened earlier this morning. We had another chicken go missing with no sign of her a few nights ago. Neighbors say they’ve heard owls in the trees above their house, but I don’t know the signs of an owl attack. No tracks around that I could see since it was soft sand. Any idea what this could be?

 

[McChooky]

THis looks like a bird of prey has picked the carcass clean.Likely the same owl(s) your neighbors reported hearing.My advise is lock your chickens up and force the owls to hunt somewhere else or at least provide them some hiding places so they aren't easy prey.Losing 2-3 chickens weekly can wipe out a flock.Sorry for your loss!

 

[AnneGirlGG]

Oh man, I'm so sorry! Looks like it could definitely be the owl. As the above poster advised, if you can keep your flock locked up at night for a while, several weeks probably, the owl might move on and hunt elsewhere.

There is a chance they don't, though. From my experience where we live, they don't leave. We've got at least 3 kinds of owls, but I'm suspicious there are actually 4. My neighbor and I both have chickens, and no one's are out after dark. She lost almost all her bantam flock to owls and stopped free ranging more than a year ago.

But because there are so many other things to eat, I guess (we live in the woods), the owls never left. Even with mice, rats, stray kittens, etc. to eat, I am still fairly certain my birds would become food if they were out at night.

 

[britneyT]

THis looks like a bird of prey has picked the carcass clean.Likely the same owl(s) your neighbors reported hearing.My advise is lock your chickens up and force the owls to hunt somewhere else or at least provide them some hiding places so they aren't easy prey.Losing 2-3 chickens weekly can wipe out a flock.Sorry for your loss!

Thank you! We plan on putting our flock inside for a few days.

 

[britneyT]

Oh man, I'm so sorry! Looks like it could definitely be the owl. As the above poster advised, if you can keep your flock locked up at night for a while, several weeks probably, the owl might move on and hunt elsewhere.

There is a chance they don't, though. From my experience where we live, they don't leave. We've got at least 3 kinds of owls, but I'm suspicious there are actually 4. My neighbor and I both have chickens, and no one's are out after dark. She lost almost all her bantam flock to owls and stopped free ranging more than a year ago.

But because there are so many other things to eat, I guess (we live in the woods), the owls never left. Even with mice, rats, stray kittens, etc. to eat, I am still fairly certain my birds would become food if they were out at night.

Yes, this was one thing we were worried about when we decided to do free-range. Thank you for the advice, owls are such nasty predators.