Chickens killed

[Wazntme]

My 7 chickens were killed yesterday and I can't tell what did it, there wasn't any visible damage to them and were not eaten at all. Whatever did it likely killed for sport. It wasn't possible for it to be a dog or a bird of prey because it didn't need much room to get in. I thinking it was either raccoons, a weasel, or a fox. If anyone has had experience with this let me know so I know what to do to prevent my girls from being murdered again.

[headshot5]

Any heads missing or bite marks on the neck?  I'd think a weasel or a mink.

Otherwise, maybe they got poisoned or something similar if there is no damage anywhere.

[headshot5]

The first thing I would do is see if you can find where it got in.   Were they killed in the coop?  Or just in a fenced in run?  Was it done at night?  I'd put a door on your coop from there run, so they have an extra layer of protection at night.  I'd also put a live trap out on the off chance it was a raccoon either use a chicken carcass for bait or something smelly (sardines usually work).  I'd also put a trail camera or several if possible to see if you can identify the culprit, which will make it easier to remove.   

[Widgeondeke]

Had a friend that had some chickens and ducks mysteriously disappear. I put up a trail cam and got great pics of a bobcat.
Raccoons will reach through a fence and take the heads right off.

[Buckewe]

I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago and it was racoons. It was a 3 of them and they killed 10 birds in a month. I sat on the back deck with my shotgun and got them one by one.

[JimmyHoffa]

don't overlook rats.  A big rat will kill chickens and leave little trace.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Hmmm, no visible signs of damage is odd.  I've had racoons kill mine before and they didn't eat much, but they did go for the neck and tear the heads off.  That was apparent.  .leaning towards some sort of rodent in your case. 

[huntingfool7]

No visible damage.  Betting it was a dog.  If you think a raccoon or fox could get to them, why do you think that a dog couldn't.

[jackelope]

My chicken guru friend says raccoons or weasels. She says they kill them for fun.

Bobcats will kill them and eat them elsewhere and not leave a mess. Barely a feather. They're super efficient.
 

[Wazntme]

So a dog could not have got inside the pen, whatever it was had to climb a 6 foot fence and push the hawk netting aside to get in. I have an automatic door that closes at dusk and opens in the morning so they were killed in the pen area before they went to bed. There was no visible damage on them so I think their necks were broken

[Pegasus]

Likely a weasel or maybe a mink if you live near water. Had a weasel get some ducks and a goose years ago that were tightly penned up at night in a chicken wire cage. Made it easy access and pickings for the weasel that got mine.

[carpsniperg2]

mink or weasel would be my bet to. They like to get them by the back of the skull or neck and crunch them.

[Wazntme]

We don't live by water so I don't think it was a mink. Also it wasn't poison because it was violent, there's feathers everywhere

[Birdguy]

You do not have to be near water for minks or weasels though generally the case. I live at least 400 yards from the nearest "water" to speak of yet every few years we get a critter. We have killed a weasel and two minks in 12 years of living here. Weasels and minks will squeeze in through any small opening. In all three instances there were massive kills, live traps ended the killings. Feathers are likely the result of the last ones killed trying to get away. If you have others chickens around lock them up early, and hope the culprit comes back to eat and you can catch it. Either can be very expensive pests. First night we lost over $1000 in pheasants alone!!

Have had raccoons once, chewed through the chicken wire over the pen and killed 3 or 4, ate part of one and  hauled one off. Came back two days later and was introduced to some #6s at close range.
Best of luck to you in getting the issue solved.

[Wazntme]

I'm leaning towards raccoon because of the way it entered and exited the enclosure, I believe it climbed up the fence and found an opening in the netting (netting we just put up because of hawks) but on the way out it pushed the bottom of the fence out quite a ways to escape. It sucks because the actual coop where they sleep at night is 100% secure, I built it like a house and the door is shut every night but I wasn't really expecting predators to do their thing during the day. Also my wife and I were gone that afternoon ( or evening) otherwise we would of seen this happening since their pen is in the same line of sight as the tv. But I have a live trap out there now so hopefully I will have a new fur pelt to hang in my shop soon! I will keep everyone posted on who the culprit is.

[Roundhead]

No visible damage.  Betting it was a dog.  If you think a raccoon or fox could get to them, why do you think that a dog couldn't.

[lokidog]

Likely a weasel or maybe a mink if you live near water. Had a weasel get some ducks and a goose years ago that were tightly penned up at night in a chicken wire cage. Made it easy access and pickings for the weasel that got mine.

My bet as well.  You don't have to be near water though.  We are a half mile from any surface water and get mink all of the time.
Skin the neck and head, you will likely find damage there.  Either of these evil beasts can fit through chicken wire if only one cell is broken.  We had one mink kill 16 chickens in one night.  They will also be active before complete dark.

Sorry for your loss... hope you butchered them up and didn't waste the meat.   

[HighlandLofts]

A friend has pigeons,his pigeons were being killed on a regular basis with the same MO you have. It ended up being a weasel. Once he was told how to go about trapping it and he killed it and the killing of his pigeons stopped.

They will travel away from water ways in search of food and can fit through a very small opening.

Rats are another problem when you have any kind of live stock, keep up on the rat poison at all times. It seams they go through swings at three to four month intervals.

[boneaddict]

Weasels don't usually leave a mark but.....they usually don't kill a bunch at once.

Raccoons usually kill the whole dang flock.  The interesting thing is I've had them stack them like cord wood, or haul them out and stash them in a pile.  They also usually aren't too messy.

Coyotes, fox, dogs usually make a mess, or the critters end up missing.

Cats, often kill the flock....all of them. Like a sport

[HighlandLofts]

I've raised pigeons most of my life, generally raccoons will kill between fifteen to thirty-five pigeons. They love to kill for the thrill of it, but they need a larger opening to enter & leave.

If things are pretty tight my bet would be a weasel or rat.

One of my friends had a raccoon enter his loft through some twenty-five year old rusted chicken wire and killed over thirty pigeons. Two or three days later he caught it re-entering the loft in a trap. A few days after that a bunch of his birds eyes went gray and were blind. So it had some kind of disease that affected the birds.

[robescc]

don't overlook rats.  A big rat will kill chickens and leave little trace.

This very true.

[AL WORRELLS KID]

Back when I was a kid we never realized there were Red Fox in our Suburban Neighborhood until late one night when we turned the back porch light on after hearing something out by our Lady Amherst Pheasant Cages. I later set a few traps in the nearby woods and found they were a beautiful deep "Cherry Red" Fox.
Doug

[CAMPMEAT]

Wolves have invaded your area where you live. .........