I have lost two small chickens in the last week. Something has taken their head off. the body is in the coop, in the corner, no head. what is doing this? at first I thought the bigger hens, so I moved the smallest to a private pen.today I found her dead with no head. mary
Sounds to me like a racoon. I found this info online for you. "Parts Missing A dead bird found inside a fenced enclosure or pen with its head missing is likely the victim of a raccoon that reached in, grabbed the bird, and pulled its head through the wire. Or a bird of prey could have frightened your birds into fluttering against the wire, and those that poked their heads through the wire lost their heads. When you find a bird dead inside an enclosure with its head and crop missing, your visitor was a raccoon. If the head and back of the neck are missing, suspect a weasel or mink. If the head and neck are missing, and feathers are scattered near a fence post, the likely perp is a great horned owl. Just as a raccoon will reach into a pen and pull off a chicken's head, so will it also pull off a leg, if that's what it gets hold of first. Dogs, too, may prowl underneath a raised pen, bite at protruding feet, and pull off legs."
that was interesting reading, im just glad we dont have raccoons here in wales. the worst we have to worry about is rats and foxes.
I am having the opposite problem. My hens are free ranging and I find their heads and wings. The body is missing...
I was thinking Skunks as soon as I read the post. They will bite off the head and drink the blood. Sometimes they leave the head on the bird, bighting the neck, and you'll find several dead just laying there. If it's Skunks, they like eggs too, and will brake them, eat the insides, leaving the shells just a few feet from the nest.
I would say raccoon. We've been having a skunk issue around here, but they have yet to approach the house or coop. A raccoon on the other hand will approach without fear.
