What Predator Killed My Chicken? **Graphic Pic**

[Lolliegee]

Quote:
I'm sorry that you lost a hen you loved so much. I was just sitting here thinking how bummed I am about the missing babies. Got my new duck house almost all planned out, gonna start building it tomorrow. I sure don't want to lose anymore.

 

[wilds of pa]

sorry for the loss, this time of year many hungry young and weak..

Appears to be a coon, they have a tendency to only eat the back part of any game bird or chicken, possums and skunks normally will eat the head and all, but coons go for the best part of the kill,

fox would have more than likely just carried the kill off. Wing preds like to eat the best parts as well and some innards..

~Wilds~

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Have to disagree, looks like a possum.

I had a Brahma hen, the possum killed her and only ate the rear. Did not even touch the head or crop area.

Apparently the same possum (now LOOONNG dead possum) was the one stealing the bantams from the coop. They would be there during the day...GONE during the night.

Put the thigh of one of the chickens into a hav-a-hart trap and this is what we caught:

It was not alive much longer after that photo...

 

[chickenboy1993]

i had set a trap and caught a skunk that had been killing my chickens it ate the rear and breast area and never touched the rest

 

[wilds of pa]

with A good closed coop at night that doesn't happen and so all the parts will be fine in the morning on your birds.. some learn the hard way and some just dont learn from there own mistakes..

If not, you can surly expect to have some killed chickens sooner or later..just look in this section and you can see who does and doesn't close there coops at night..

However this doesn't count for day time killings which those are hard to prevent when free ranging in a none fenced setting..but night attacks can be solved very simply, just close them up..

So if your not prepared to close up a coop each and every night or if you have large flight pens were preds can and will gain access, , best bet get traps set or loses will occur..

~Wilds~

 

[Ashleychickenlady]

For sure was an Opossum.. I have had the same thing happened to 7 of my chickens. I was very upset to lose them. I was extremely close to one that it had gotten.. So I have been Opossum proofing my chicken coop all this week. Set a trap out for the Opossum and bring my chickens inside at night since they are relatively young still and only a few left.

Raccoons typically take the chicken with them..
Opossum kills them and leaves the carcass.

I am sorry for your loss. But you need to make sure that any possible way in is closed up because they can get in. If you research the Opossum you will find a lot of information about how to deal with them. Or rid them from the area.

 

[Lolliegee]

I somehow missed that there were people still posting on this thread. We have confirmed by sighting that it was an opossum. He came back and almost got another teen hen. This was from the closed coop, that he somehow managed to open the nest box door of.

Here's a link to my thread on the injured chicken and more details about what happened.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=185619

 

[chicken farmer]

Possum.....because racoon usally always bite/tear the head off and eat the whole chicken,so it was probably possum.

 

[justhenz]

I just lost 3 chickens to something. Ten or so areas of piles of feathers- no bodies,no blood, no tracks in the snow. So confused. Owl? But THREE in one night-( or early morning)?