What kind of animal has killed my hens?

Carchick

Songster
13 Years
May 23, 2007
85
46
121
I have to chicken coop houses. They both have a small outdoor run that is completely enclosed and no predators can get in there, and from there I can open up a door, and then they all can run out to the larger. Run area which has grass and everything else but is I thought, pretty well to protected. I can't find any way that an animal would have dug under it as there are no holes. The only 2 possibilities I can come up with is that it's either our rooster or one of my cats. So as I mentioned, there are 2 large outdoor runs that do not have a cover over them and has a fence down the middle of them. Like a really large square and a has. A fence down the middle. So the rooster is on one side, and he mainly hangs out there, said the first bird that was killed was on that side with the rooster and the there were a couple of feathers and it was bitten underneath the neck, pretty open, and that was it. She was there by the bird coop, and all the other birds were just outside, playing like nothing happened, I know, in the past they would have run into their chicken coops and have stayed on their ledges, but we have the coop more protected than ever now. So yesterday, on the other side of the bird coop, there was another attack, and it was under her neck area. No feathers missing she was lying there, and all the other birds were just playing outside as well, like nothing happened. So either the rooster jumped over the fence in the middle, which he can do, or our outside cats did it. He climbs up the fence and jumps on the roof, and he can then drop down into the outdoor uncovered area of the coop. He's done it many times and he looks like he has wanted to play with them but has not done it when i've been outside in that area with them.

What do you think it is? Thank you
 
So are you saying it could be a cat or another hen? I have no idea how hens would attack each other, but I wouldn't think it would be under the neck. Maybe that's how they do it, I have no why. I guess it would make sense as to why the other chickens would just be acting like nothing happened.
 
Why are you bringing up cats if you think a chicken killed it? Im just a little confused no offense.
I'm not bringing up outdoor cats, it's one cat who is an indoor and outdoor., I have never seen him try to attack a chicken before. I have one completely indoor cat and the other one is indoor outdoor. I've tried to make him an indoor, but he goes crazy and tears everything up. Right now, the birds are only in their outdoor, completely enclosed section and I guess I'll have to stay there until we can find some way to keep him out, I thought about putting barbed wire at the top, but then I might have a bloody cat on my hands too. Those are my babies, and there's no way I'm going to put them in harm's way again. I know they depend upon me to keep them safe.
 
I'll guess.....Hawk.
Or maybe weasel.
Pics of your larger run area where kills took place, please.
What time of day did it happen?

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