Mystery Murder

It has been a long time since we have lost one of our layers to predators.  As our neighbor says, “Everything loves chicken!”.    We were losing around 30 chickens a year to bobcats, coyotes, coons, possums, and weasels.  What makes us so stubborn that we don’t just buy eggs rather than trying to raise our own?    Every year we brood the little chicks just to have them eaten by the time they are in their prime of laying. 

A couple years ago we got smart and included the chicken coop within our goat fencing just to see if Harvey, our guard dog, would keep predators away from the chickens.  It has been working until today.  Perhaps the predator has figured that it should eat while Harvey and the goats are back at the barn for their evening dinner.  Who is this predator?  From our past experience we know that a weasel will kill quite a few birds at once and will only suck the blood from their necks rather than bite into the bird, a bob cat or coyote will carry off the entire chicken.  We are thinking that it is either a coon or possum.   We have a live trap at the coop and hope to catch the murderer.  We are almost certain it will be back for more. 

Look what happend to this poor hen – What would kill in this manner?