Mystery predator.

Last Friday morning, I went to go feed my chickens. When I got out to the coop, I found feathers everywhere, and one of my chickens was gone.

Just yesterday (Tuesday), I went to take care of them in the morning and found another one of my chickens with its head ripped clean off (pictures below).

In both cases, I think the victim hen was sleeping outside of the coop, but still underneath a covered portion of the run.

Any idea what the culprit predators are? (I was thinking weasel, but I'm certainly no expert). Any ideas how to prevent further episodes?



Also, from around the time the first hen was killed, my other hens have stopped laying completely. I live at 48 degrees north, so I was expecting a decrease in egg production in winter, but in previous years they didn't stop laying completely. Could they possibly be traumatized by the attack(s)?

Hi Allen - it's very distressing to find chickens like this - our culprit was a very cheeky fox.  My fault, too, since I left to coop door open.  
Normally the wire mesh buried underground at the outside edges to make digging under a challenge, together with a "slack" fence kept him/them out - a slack fence makes it really difficult for them to climb up, which they will do on a tight fence.  All the more trying since they rarely eat the chickens, it's more like sport, and taking the heads off is typical.  
Edit to add:-  Trauma a definite possibility for the lack of eggs.     I know some people have a light in the hen house over winter to extend the daylight hours, so if that doesn't go against your thinking it might be worth a try.

We had a mink do very similar damage to a couple of our chickens over the course of several days until we trapped him in a live trap using a fingerling trout for bait. It took me a while to find the small hole in the wire that a tennis ball could be barely shoved through.

Hi Allen,
I'm going to say it is likely a racoon or owl. From what I understand, the wiesel family often leave part of the head behind, while the racoon will pull the head off and through the fence, leaving the rest of the bird behind. Owls (and some bigger hawks) are known for eating the head and neck and leaving the rest.

I second the suggestions for fox, mink and raccoon.

Now that the predator has found the dinner table it is time to find how the predator got into where the dinner table is.

Here is a list Paul made of possible predators:

https://permies.com/t/1957/chicken-predators

My vote is racoon. Our two chicken flocks have been attacked by loads of North American predators. The raccoon is the only one that has removed their heads completely.

Our #1 predator here is raccoons.  I haven't ever seen them leave a chicken like that.  When they have gotten ours, we always find a pretty large area of the body eaten.  They will normally eat 1/3 or more of the body and I've usually found the head still there.  Raccoons here go straight for the meat in the body.