Chicken predator identification is important so chicken keepers know what has attacked their flock and how to prevent it from happening again by protecting your flock from common predators.
On a personal note…Tara and her young son, Beckett, had started the morning like any other: a short stroll in their backyard to the coop where their four hens lived. As they drew closer, however, Tara sensed something wrong. She told Beckett to wait, then approached the henhouse slowly—only to see a quartet of bodies slumped on the ground, motionless. Quickly, she took a confused Beckett back to the house and, once he was occupied, returned to investigate.
“It was like something made a hole in their chests and sucked the insides out. What did that to my chickens?” she asked me.
I get this question far too often. I hate to hear how birds, sometimes entire flocks, get decimated by nocturnal and diurnal predators. It’s happened to our flocks a handful of times over the years, enough so that I can look at a victim and identify the predator, whether raccoon, dog, weasel, fox, coyote or other.
If you find that your flock has been attacked, this is a list of chicken predators that you can use to learn how to protect your flock from being attacked again.
It’s likely that a raccoon or a bird of prey, like a hawk, put the head on your chicken and then left it. Birds of prey will swoop down and scare chickens, who sometimes jump up in fear and get their heads caught in the netting or mesh that covers their run. Then, a hawk or other bird of prey will use its strong claws to rip off the head. Raccoons will also rip the heads off chickens through fencing, often reaching through at ground level to grab a chicken and pull its head off, leaving its body on the other side of the fence.
When you have chickens, there is a chance that animals will try to eat them. Headless chickens in the pen are often a sign that a predator has attacked the chickens. Even though it’s scary, looking at the way the animal died can help find the predator that killed it.
Common Chicken Predators
Chickens are easy prey because they are big and move slowly. Some common chicken predators are
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Raccoons: They will get through wire fences or holes in chicken coops to grab a chicken’s head, rip it off, and leave the body behind. If headless chickens are found near fencing, this person is most likely to be responsible.
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Weasels – Includes fishers, martens, minks, and ferrets. Weasels are agile predators that can enter small openings. They usually kill chickens and leave the bodies mostly whole.
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Owls – Great horned owls and other large owl species prey on chickens. Owls prefer to eat the head first targeting the brain which is high in protein.
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Foxes – Foxes are capable of carrying off entire mature chickens. Look for missing birds and scattered feathers as signs of a fox attack.
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Coyotes – Like foxes, coyotes can kill full-sized chickens and carry carcasses away.
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Dogs – Dogs usually kill chickens by shaking and breaking their necks, Chickens may be left uneaten if the dog was chasing for sport,
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Cats – Feral and domestic cats opportunistically hunt chickens. Their victims will show signs of wounds from claws and teeth.
Clues Left Behind By Different Predators
Carefully examining how a chicken was killed can provide clues to identify the predator:
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Missing eggs – Rats, snakes, skunks, raccoons, crows, and opportunistic chickens may be stealing eggs.
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Missing chickens – When entire birds disappear, suspect foxes, coyotes, bobcats, dogs, hawks, or owls depending on the size of chicken taken.
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Intact dead chickens – Chickens killed by bites without missing parts likely indicates a dog or cat attack. Also potentially a chicken that died of natural causes or illness.
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Bloody but intact carcasses – Weasels kill chickens aggressively, often leaving them bloodied but uneaten.
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Headless chickens – Headless carcasses with an intact body strongly suggest owl or raccoon predation.
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Other signs – Look for predator scat, tracks, and feathers. Set up a game camera to potentially photograph the predator in action.
Protecting Your Flock from Future Attacks
Once you’ve identified likely predators, take steps to protect your chickens:
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Install secure fencing with small mesh to prevent raccoons from reaching in. Bury fencing to stop digging predators.
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Ensure coops and runs are sealed against entry, with no gaps bigger than 1-2 inches. Use hardware cloth or wire mesh for maximum security.
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Deter aerial predators like hawks with wire or netting over outdoor runs.
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Use motion-activated lights, sounds, or scarecrows to frighten predators.
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Keep a guard animal such as a dog, goose, or rooster to alert you and confront predators. Supervise dogs around chickens.
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Lock chickens in predator-proof coops at night and when unattended.
Predators are an unfortunate reality of raising backyard chickens. Stay vigilant and take preventative measures to protect your valued flock. Examining attack evidence can help you identify the culprit and enhance defenses against future attacks. With awareness and proper precautions, you can minimize risks to your chickens.
Missing or Damaged Eggs
A number of predators prey on poultry eggs. Snakes swallow eggs whole. Rats carry eggs away a short distance, then eat them. A skunk punches a hole into an egg, then sticks its muzzle in to lick out the contents. Raccoons and opossums tend to crush eggs to eat them, leaving behind a mess of mashed shell and oozing interiors. Blue jays and crows are known to occasionally prey on poultry eggs.
Wounds Near the Vent; Entrails Pulled Out
If your chicken is still alive and has bite marks and cuts around her vent, or if she is dead and her intestines have been pulled out through her vent, the animal that did this is probably a weasel. Weasels, minks, ferrets, badgers and martens wrap themselves around their prey’s body and attack the vent area. Also, weasels will kill a bird by biting it at the base of the head before they eat it. (Here’s a video of how to identify predators with a simple scent station. ).
This gruesome carnage signifies a common poultry predator, the raccoon. This type of predation pattern often occurs when a raccoon has gotten into a coop at night. It will typically feed on one or two chickens in this manner, then depart, leaving the remains behind.
If one of your birds seems to have simply disappeared, or if there is nothing but a scattering of feathers in the coop, run or yard, the probable culprit is a fox. Foxes tend to kill or severely injure their prey, then carry them back to their dens, often to feed their kits. Coyotes and bobcats are also known to carry off their prey, as are hawks, owls and other birds of prey.
If you are missing one or more chicks, you might have a rat or opossum problem. Both predators grab infant poultry off an unguarded nest and carry them away. Rat snakes also prey on chicks, eating them whole. Another carnivore that targets chicks is the domestic cat, which tends to carry chicks off to play with this lively new toy elsewhere.
What Animal Bites Chickens Heads?
FAQ
What animal eats the heads off chickens?
Raccoons and birds of prey, such as hawks and owls, are the most common culprits for decapitating chickens. They have been seen to reach through fences or wire mesh and grab chicken heads, leaving the bodies behind.
What would just eat the head of a chicken?
The animal that killed the birds and took their heads off could be a raccoon, a hawk, or an owl. Raccoons have been known to pull a bird’s head through the wires of a cage and then eat only the head, leaving the rest of the body behind.
What will take the head of a chicken?
Anything from weasel to bobcat, owls even, will take the head. Foxes usually carry the chicken when they flee, even carrying two if they are not struggling anymore.
Do possums eat chicken heads off?
Opossums, no. Raccoons are the ones who bite the heads off of chickens.