Who killed our chicken?
Discussion
I came home yesterday to find our one and only remaining chicken in two parts! She was in her open topped pen when the murder took place, which is where her body remained, however her head was 70ft away up the garden. This morning when I went to bag up the carcass, it had gone. I'd suggest there are 3 suspects: Fox, Red Kite/Buzzard, Cat.
Facts: I could count on one hand how many foxes we've seen in 15 years and never in the garden. Previous chickens would roam free well beyond the garden into the field and woods and did so without a problem for 3 - 4 years. Also our 2 dogs are free in the garden every day, but can't get into the chicken run. I'd have expected them to kick off at the slightest noise, scent, visual on a fox.
We have 3 cats who often sit on the run and watch the chicken. Two of them certainly wouldn't bother, but number 3 is a bit if a b
d. He'll kill all day long, but not sure about a chicken.
Then there are the Kites or Buzzards that regularly circle high up.
So why was the head so far away? Did the murderer drop it there? Or was it dropped just outside the run and taken by a dog? Who could the murderer be? So many questions!
Facts: I could count on one hand how many foxes we've seen in 15 years and never in the garden. Previous chickens would roam free well beyond the garden into the field and woods and did so without a problem for 3 - 4 years. Also our 2 dogs are free in the garden every day, but can't get into the chicken run. I'd have expected them to kick off at the slightest noise, scent, visual on a fox.
We have 3 cats who often sit on the run and watch the chicken. Two of them certainly wouldn't bother, but number 3 is a bit if a b
d. He'll kill all day long, but not sure about a chicken.Then there are the Kites or Buzzards that regularly circle high up.
So why was the head so far away? Did the murderer drop it there? Or was it dropped just outside the run and taken by a dog? Who could the murderer be? So many questions!
I'll bet £2 that's it's not a kite, although they're highly likely to take away any carcass, just not do the actual killing. I'm less familiar with buzzards but I'd suspect the same. Sparrow hawk unlikely to tackle a chicken and would be characterized by stripping all the feathers on site.
I know foxes do a lot of killing in one massacre then return in stages for the spoils, but agree that your situation looks harder to decipher.
Sorry that it happened, good luck with the investigation.
Atb
I know foxes do a lot of killing in one massacre then return in stages for the spoils, but agree that your situation looks harder to decipher.
Sorry that it happened, good luck with the investigation.
Atb
Prior to rescuing four in a recent re-homing 
we lost our last chicken between 2pm and 4pm on a sunday afternoon. Just a small patch of feathers left. We also have at least three Buzzards around and the other birds we feed stayed away for about a week. It could have been a Fox but we think Buzzard...
we lost our last chicken between 2pm and 4pm on a sunday afternoon. Just a small patch of feathers left. We also have at least three Buzzards around and the other birds we feed stayed away for about a week. It could have been a Fox but we think Buzzard...P700DEE said:
Prior to rescuing four in a recent re-homing we lost our last chicken between 2pm and 4pm on a sunday afternoon. Just a small patch of feathers left. We also have at least three Buzzards around and the other birds we feed stayed away for about a week. It could have been a Fox but we think Buzzard...
I did Google before my post and Buzzards have been known to do this. In our case the decapitation is interesting. Perhaps just an easy fleshy part to remove first. Our dogs could easily have gone charging down the garden and spooked the culprit who could have dropped the head when flying or fleeing. we lost our last chicken between 2pm and 4pm on a sunday afternoon. Just a small patch of feathers left. We also have at least three Buzzards around and the other birds we feed stayed away for about a week. It could have been a Fox but we think Buzzard...Chances are it wouldn't be red kite as they tend to only eat carrion.
There is a way of telling from the ends of the feathers as different animals pull them out in different ways (pulled cleanly out or stripped and broken). I shall ask the wildlife geek of a child when he's home from school which way round it is.
There is a way of telling from the ends of the feathers as different animals pull them out in different ways (pulled cleanly out or stripped and broken). I shall ask the wildlife geek of a child when he's home from school which way round it is.
Liokault said:
I was going to say it’s 100% a fox, but having googled a bit, it looks like taking heads off chickens is something buzzards like to do.
Very unlikely that you have no foxes in the area though.
Foxes must be around but we just don't see them like in town. The fact that 3 chickens roamed free in the garden, woods and field everyday for 3-4 years says a lot about the number of foxes. But those Buzzards do circle around these here parts! According to a previous reply, a lot can be deduced by the remaining feathers of which there are a lot. All of them look complete to me, like there was a bloody good plucking going on!Very unlikely that you have no foxes in the area though.
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