What predator poops after a kill? (graphic photos)

[wild chick]

My knowledge of them is somewhat limited, there is nothing that they could climb up and drop over the fence?

I read that they are intelligent like raccoons and are sometimes kept as pets. Which suggests to me that they are smart and adaptable to change - few wild critters do well in captivity. There is only one tree with skinny limbs that overhangs the fence - a squirrel could jump from limbs to another tree inside the pen, but I don't think a coati (raccoon size) could or would. I'm a bit baffled really.

When I first got chickens I was sure I was asking for bears. We have those too, but again, never on our property inside the perimeter fence that we've ever seen.

Thanks for your comments, if I get something in the trap or on the critter cam I'll post it here.

 

[nuthatched]

Those are coon tracks, not coati. Coati prints are more like a dog's with long claws, nor like hands.
Sorry you lost birds.

 

[wild chick]

Those are coon tracks, not coati. Coati prints are more like a dog's with long claws, nor like hands.

I'm no expert, I searched around and did find this article comparing the coati with the raccoon. I personally thought the narrow toes of the raccoon didn't look as close to my photo as the coati. I'm so curious now, hope to get it on the critter cam, if not in the trap!

https://ralphwaldt.com/tag/coati/

 

[nuthatched]

I'm no expert, I searched around and did find this article comparing the coati with the raccoon. I personally thought the narrow toes of the raccoon didn't look as close to my photo as the coati. I'm so curious now, hope to get it on the critter cam, if not in the trap!

https://ralphwaldt.com/tag/coati/

That's a cool blog. My experience with them is that they leave my birds alone completely, the eggs may be more of an attraction. Coatis are also diurnal, at least ours was. Hopefully you'll get a picture. Coati paws are like mini bear feet

 

[ronlong1]

The only predator I've ever had is a bobcat and we haven't had a kill for over 2 years since putting up electric fence outside the 2 x 4" field wire paddock. This morning I have a partially eaten chicken in the run and a pile of poop in the coop. Some of the ends of toes were eaten, which I think is strange, and the feathers were pulled in small clumps to get to the meat. I live in high desert forest of southern NM, possibilities are fox, skunk, weasel or bobcat. Anything that can get past the electric wire could easily get in the chicken pen, but because of the poop it left it was definately not a hawk or owl. I would think fox or bobcat would have taken the carcass when it left? There were no drag marks from the coop to the pen so I think this hen was the last to go in last night or the first out this morning? The carcass was cold but not frozen and it was 20F this morning. Golf ball for size reference on the poop. I will go back out now to see if I can make out prints in the sand and pick through the poop for fur, but from just looking at it, it looks like dog poop. I'll also look closer at the carcass, as people here say weasel family critters take the heads? Ideas anyone?

I lost one this morning and what is strange about it is I didn't hear no noise going one, but the head and neck were gone and that's it, probably a chicken hawk

 

[Project Blue]

About the missing chicken toes. I have a raised coop with a fine mesh wire floor that I put in some chicks. A couple lost toes the first night I put them because of my bad coop design error. I had both armadillo and raccoon tracks underneath the next morning. I am pretty sure it was the raccoon that bit the toes off a couple of the chicks. I think what happened is either the raccoon or armadillo could only nip off the toes while the chicks were gripping the wire and some critter probably did something similar to your hen before breaking in and killing her. Speaking of toes, those are really fat looking toes in your pictures of prints. It looks more like skunk than raccoon to me, or maybe NM raccoons have fatter toes than Alabama raccoons. Also Alabama raccoon scat is very messy and usually has seeds in it. I've never seen raccoon poop so formed, but I'm sure New Mexico is pretty arid.