What killed my chicken?

[rocking2r]

What killed my hen? It’s bottom was eaten out and the insides were eaten. It was found in the hen house covered up with pine shavings on the floor. It looked like something hid it to come back and eat it later.

 

[Cluck-a-lot]

I am so sorry to read your post. How dreadful. I think the first thing I would do is look for any holes or entries into their coop and get them fixed up quickly. Whatever did this will come back again and you certainly don’t need this. If any of my hens or roosters die I plant a tree over their bodies. Anything really so that I have something positive to gain from it all, and remember, if the hen was a special friend to you.
I would also suggest getting a trap. I have one which simply cages the perpetrator whether it be dog or whatever. If it is a local animal you can at least have the satisfaction of making sure they are monitored by their owners in the future. If it something wild . Drive it miles away to a place where it can catch other forest animals which are not caged.
I am sorry for your loss.

 

[rocking2r]

Thank you for your kind words. Our pen is now secure- I think. Tonight will be the test. We do have live traps. Will have to see if they are operable.

 

[Cluck-a-lot]

Good luck!

 

[Malquid]

That sounds like a possum. They try to hide their dead because they prefer decomp. They come back sometimes days later. Was the neck mutilated?
If it was a weasel they would sportkill the whole flock. Bare neck Throat kills.

I would suggest a battery operated ring cam. You can watch everything and get alerts for as small as a feather moving in the sensitivity settings. It’s the best. It’s saved my flock at least 20 times.

 

[rocking2r]

That sounds like a possum. They try to hide their dead because they prefer decomp. They come back sometimes days later. Was the neck mutilated?
If it was a weasel they would sportkill the whole flock. Bare neck Throat kills.

I would suggest a battery operated ring cam. You can watch everything and get alerts for as small as a feather moving in the sensitivity settings. It’s the best. It’s saved my flock at least 20 times.

Can you tell me more about the ring cam? I’m not familiar with that. Maybe you could give me a link where they sell them?

 

[rocking2r]

Could the predators have been a skunk?

 

[Malquid]

Can you tell me more about the ring cam? I’m not familiar with that. Maybe you could give me a link where they sell them?

I started out with a quest for coop surveillance. The RING brand appealed to me. Relatively simple, and inexpensive.
The camera is $100 and you download the app. You can stream live or have your motion catch a video of movement.
The ring camera is the same company as Ring Doorbell. All this can be found at ring.com
https://ring.com/

Look for the ring “stick up cam”
Here’s my coop right now on my phone. I can press the red button and talk to scare off raccoons.

 

[rocking2r]

I am so sorry to read your post. How dreadful. I think the first thing I would do is look for any holes or entries into their coop and get them fixed up quickly. Whatever did this will come back again and you certainly don’t need this. If any of my hens or roosters die I plant a tree over their bodies. Anything really so that I have something positive to gain from it all, and remember, if the hen was a special friend to you.
I would also suggest getting a trap. I have one which simply cages the perpetrator whether it be dog or whatever. If it is a local animal you can at least have the satisfaction of making sure they are monitored by their owners in the future. If it something wild . Drive it miles away to a place where it can catch other forest animals which are not caged.
I am sorry for your loss.

Mystery solved! This morning we found raccoon tracks around the door and it appeared to have been tampered with. It also appeared it had tried to get into our feed cans. If it gets into the feed that can be costly! Tonight we’ll set a trap