What would do This? Graphic Images

[SizzlesNSilk]

All three chicks and my roo. None of them eaten, feather, everywhere, one wing ripped off, one head ripped off and found 50 feet from the body. My chicken lady says a domestic cat wouldn't have done this. We live in the city/suburbs. A raccoon I heard will not usually climb into a pen and kill them all in one swoop and especially play wit the bodies as one was badly mangled found outside the pen.. . .?

Found inside pen
Found headless inside pen
Compromised pen barrier
Found outside pen most damages
inside pen
found outside pen least damage just neck

 

[chickenweirdo1]

HAWK!

Especially with the last picture with the broken neck that usually means hawks. I had three birds that were killed by a hawk, the bodies looked just like the last picture. Just to be positive is the head mangled on all of them? That's usually what the hawks go for first.
Although hawk might not have been able to mess up the fence.

 

[SizzlesNSilk]

Good suggestion but this is under a huge fig tree five feet from one house and twenty from the other. It would have had to come down to ground level first because the chicks wouldn't have been seen from the sky.

 

[SizzlesNSilk]

The broken necks are especially disturbing aren't they. I thought dog because the one was mangled like a chew toy and the wing was ripped off another like paw rip pull.

 

[centrarchid]

Scenes consistent with raccoon, not raptor. Note slobbery look in of feathers in fourth image. Sometimes when killing easy raccoon will kill more than one. Raccoon will be back. I would use carcass to bait live trap. Beef up your coop defense in a big way. If that can not be done immediately then move chickens to a location in garage where you can either puting them in a smaller more defensible contaoner or have them roost up on some a raccoon can not climb to.

Breed / cross involved of sort where birds have no defensive abilities and not good enough as flying to use more protected roost. You must make up difference.

 

[sheenaschlytter]

I lost my whole flock last year to foxes. They did that. Took the heads from all of them but only ate one was had 7. Or turkey was not touched. It was our fault we didn't lock them inside since it was a nice spring night. Now they are locked up in a pen almost always. We also just invested in a tough shed that we are turning into a coop nothing is gonna get to them in there at night

 

[SizzlesNSilk]

Good suggestion about the carcasses. I also read a baby monitor is good idea. I plan to put cameras outside as well. I have a vegetable garden I am trying to protect too.

After cleanup, my dog who is never outside unsupervised, found a chicken foot the culprit ripped right off of one of my poor sizzles.

 

[kwhit]

I had an experience last night with a monster that killed one of my chicks that was two months old.
I am thinking a fisher cat or a raccoon was the culprit.

I will openly admit that I am 100 % at fault.

I am in the process of introducing four two month old chicks to an established flock. I took the proper steps to divide my
pen in half to introduce them through the "see but don't touch" method. It has been working.

But, with this being a temporary situation, I put up a temporary shelter and protection for the food.
in the temporary chick pen then I realized they needed a roost pole so I put up one of them too.
But without thinking I put it up diagonally in the pen. (I have moved the pole so it is in the middle of the pen now
and is protected by plywood on the other end.) Crossing my fingers.
I think when they were roosting they would cozy up to the fence too so the monster surprised one and
grabbed it and tried to pull it through the fence.The monster only got the babies head, but
desperately dug at the bottom of the fence to get at the remains.
I was totally bummed. I made this pen and coop into chicken fort knox. I've been lucky since I started
back in 2013 keeping layers. The one thing I am missing is the permanent coop for the babies on their side.
I will be making some changes this weekend. I just hope I can delay the inevitable.

A couple of questions I hope to hear answers.

I could smell a urine smell all around near the kill site at the fence

Do fisher cats leave their scent around?
Does this mean we are goners?

I am thinking of bringing my dog crate into the enclosure to put them into
at night until I can create a better living situation for the babies.

 

[scooter147]

It could be a number of animals. Raccoons, fox, coyote and bobcat will kill all. There point of view is kill them all now why you have the chance and come back later for the leftovers.

I just saw on Youtube last night of a bobcat (Dallas suburb) that came during the day killed all three hens and took off with only one. If you search "Bobcat chickens" in Youtube it comes up.

If I may ask how did it get in?

 

[kwhit]

Not sure who you are asking the question....
In my case it didn't get in. It grabbed the chick through the fence.

You probably meant the question to the previous sizzlesnsilk