What killed my chickens?

Question

Two were killed, heads left on, 1 was partially eaten. I checked them at noon, they were all fine, went to close hatch in coop at 9pm and found them. Feathers all over inside of 6 x 9 coop! Other 10 hens are ok. We got snow since 4pm so no tracks visible. Pen is 10 x 16 x 5 ft chain link. No cover in winter. Weasel? Aren't opposums/coons hibernating now?

Nothing can get in the 5ft high pen other than a "climber". The suspect would have to climb the chain link to enter the coop thru the 10 in x 15 in hatch. I doubt a raptor would enter a coop (Walk?) through a hatch. I have lost 10 hens to coyotes, fox & redtails since July. (Observed paw prints or witnessed crime!)
Busy schedule, school, dr appt, 4H mtg, didn't allow us to lock up before 9pm :-(

Answer 1

weasels/minks tend to blood, so it would look like they just died on their own unless you looked real close for the bite mark. i would say cat or possum. raccoon would not stop at one or two. i know i had a raccoon go on a killing spree in my chicken yard while i went to town, i trapped him when he came back for seconds, thats how i knew what did it if it were bird of prey it would most likely have been carried off, but not always. i think because other chickens were present if it were a bird of prey it would have taken one and left, or even if it didnt leave it would obviously only have started eating an been scared away by something, which still leaves the second bird.
my guess would be cat, rat or possum. i happen to know that rats can get as big as a half grown house cat and are quite viscious enough to kill a kitten...a chicken would be easy prey..

Answer 2

Well you sure have got a variety of answers. I dont know where you are and what your local wildlife is, but I would have to say raccoon. They usually leave the heads on. They are very wasteful and tend to pillage a lot before actually taking or eating a meal. Look for broken necks or bruises near the head, neck and shoulders, in my experience that is a tell-tale sign of a raccoon kill. Raccoons will come anytime from dusk to dawn. They are also excellent climbers, the raccoons several times climbed our six foot run fence, and one time climbed onto the roof of the chicken coop and broke through the plastic corrugated roofing.

It could have also been a hawk, but that is less likely because hawks unless they are trapped will usually only take one kill and then leave.

Answer 3

I would say that you have a marauding mink. Mink will often kill chickens even when it is not hungry. And a small to medium mink could slip through the spaces in a chain link fence.

I had an identical case a few years ago. A woman I worked with said that her chickens were being killed, but they only had small amounts of them eaten. I set traps in a nearby creek and caught 3 mink. Her chickens had no more problems.

Answer 4

Hard to tell ,i write from India so it is even harder as i am not well acquainted with predators in your part of the world.I rear free range chicken ,the open area is hedged in with thick growth of bougainvillea & other thorny shrubs ,but an occasional stray dog or wild cat does come in & cause damage,even though there are farm hands & dogs around.,Mongeese are another type of predator we face,cat like in appearance,will catch & eat chickens,known for their wily ways.
All said & done predators are the bane of a farmers & livestock owners life,I totally appreciate the anguish when one discovers the damage done by a predator.

Answer 5

Racoons don't hibernate, and I just saw a possum the other night, so I don't think they do either.
Could have been any of the three.
It gets dark here around 5 PM, why are you waiting til 9 to close them up for the night??

Answer 6

Weasel, fox, cat, dog, possum, racoon. You name it, there are many predators that could have done it. You need to set a trap and see what shows up so that you will know how to prevent it from happening again.

Answer 7

A racoon, if it got in, if any animal did its not a good cage, mabe try and get a roof on ot. and around the cage put chicken wire the small holes so nothin can grab them

Answer 8

Do you have coyotes?
Since one was left half eaten it just sounds to me like some sort of dog.....
Not all critters are going to leave something half eaten like that.
Put something on top and see if this helps. Good luck.

Answer 9

Someone has to kill the chickens to get them into McNuggets.

Answer 10

Hawks. Chicken hawks or Red-tailed hawks will take full grown chickens. Can you put up a chicken wire "ceiling" over the pen?

Hope that helps.