fossil_ag you sure that wasn't a wiener dog den y'all found? I can't believe you guys would club wiener dogs.

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Rats will surprise you - very tenacious. I remember a news story from the Valley of a little girl being killed by rats.

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It was Southpark Colorado, and it was a little boy named "Kinney".

The week old explantion explains the look of the bones and stuff. I was there any blood at the time of the attack? Or was it only looked at after a week? I think rats could do it...

Looked at 2 days after, we just didn't take pics until later.
The only blood was that small smear that is in the pic, which I seem to remember being there for quite a while before the strangeness happened.

Chupasanders.

[This message has been edited by NoTXAg03 (edited 3/6/2008 10:03p).]

I personally think it was a bird of prey.

just my .02

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They were fed and watered on a Sunday after Dad's funeral by several people (funeral was on Saturday).

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All of the chicken killing aside, if I am reading this right, I am very sorry to hear about your dad. Sincere condolences Ag.

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I am very sorry to hear about your dad. Sincere condolences Ag.

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+1

It sounds like you need to organize a texags chupacabra hunt to keep this from happening again.

Rats can be ruthless.

When I was in HS, I went with my Ag teacher to this kid's house to check on a livestock project. When we walked in the barn there was this rat, who had to weigh at least 5 lbs, eating out of a feed sack. At that moment a barn cat runs in the door. The rat proceeded to raise up on his hind legs and hiss at the cat. That cat wanted no part of that sucker.

Thanks UA and Wildcat, I really appreciate it.

In regards to bird of prey, I just don't think so as there aren't any other bones anywhere, plus, there was opening big enough to pull a chicken through, unless said bird of prey diced the chickens up (without spilling any blood)and then made repeated trips. Once again, it was only 2 days from the time they were checked on until the time that the coop was found like this.

Good ideas so far ags! The Poultry Science guy that my sister talked to yesterday afternoon was thinking minks, but TX Wildlife is pretty sure it isn't. We sent them the pics and they are supposed to call back sometime today.

It's been a while since I've seen rat attacks, but I'm pretty sure that they start from the bottom and eat up (gross). That isn't exactly what happened here, but it seems to be something worth checking out anyways.
Owls, Hawks and other birds of prey are out - not just because the roof is still secure - but because they'll pick the animal up and eat it from a perch, not on the ground. Well, 9 times out of 10. My older brother actually caught a hawk in his bare hands once when it didn't get off the ground fast enough with it's chicken. Also, they'll crunch the bones and drop them beneath the perch -- these bones are all over the place. Those left are shattered in a similar manner though.
What makes this deal so strange is that you can find 1 or 2 things that a certain animal will do, but then 2 or 3 that they won't. I'm actually starting to lean towards multiple animals - one to kill, and one to pick the bones clean. It'll be interesting to see what the Wildlife Dep't has to say after they look at the pics.

LMAO chupasanders..

I saw a rat kill a horse once! It crawled up his ars and ate him from the inside out.

Rats makes a lot of sense. They can get in and out without anybody being able to see where. They can get the numbers together and are small enough to eat every last scrap of food, especially when it's cold and there's not much food. The dirt floor will hide their droppings. They could have killed the chickens as well, but I'd say something else killed the chickens or they were sick.

Coons: you would see their droppings all over the place. They crap where they eat. You would smell and see their poop everywhere.

Bird of prey: I don't know much about them, but I'd say one would definitely take the chickens elsewhere to eat them.

I'm pretty sure it was the chupacabra

- picked clean? I've only seen this in Texas once before..I think the early '70's. A group of Walking Pirahana migrated from Mexico and did the exact thing to several turkey & chicken farms. Unfortunately the pirahana don't last long in the wild. They were quickly devoured by Chupacabra and Jackarundi.

jacb04: my condolences to you and yours.

Iglidewell: Your post about the miniature dachshunds cracked me up. We have one and the most dangerous place in the house is between that 10-pound wiener dog and any food on its way to the floor. We have nicknamed him "The Piranna."

I have to point out that there is no way any wiener dog had anything to do with that massacre. If they would have there would not have been feathers, bones, or any remain of those chickens left.

I have a wiener dog that I found as a stray. It took me 3 years to get her to not nearly kill herself with exertion everytime she saw a dumpster. She has eaten everything from treated lumber shavings to a 2lb box of Godiva chocolate (including the wrappers) and bounces back for more. If it has a calorie or even if it doesn't, she is on it. We have a pecan tree in the yard and it only took her two days to figure out that those really were going going down, but after about 26 in a day shells and all they were not good going out. But that did not stop her either.

I have never had a wiener dog before and as much as I love the one I have now, I probably will not have one again in the future, she is about 15 pound eating and chewing machine.

Chupacabras are just plain annoying.

jacb04-

Condolences on your father...

Have you checked any of the wire/tin around the cage for signs of hair stuck in it? It would seem like that would be a likely place to look for traces...

When I initially read your post I was thinking snakes or maybe feral cats. Or perhaps the thriving Texas Jaguarundi population has struck at the chickens?

So far from the comments, it seems like rats are the prime suspect, with a ringtail a strong possibility.

Where in Texas are you located?

Apache: First, thanks.

We are west of San Antonio, not too far from Castroville (hence possible chupacabra attack).

I checked all the wire around the coop and there wasn't any hair anywhere, AND the few that had holes bigger than say 2-3 inches had spiderwebs that weren't disturbed.

We're waiting to hear what the Wildlife Dept says, but they are all as baffled as the rest of us.

Here is a quote from: http://successwithpoultry.blogspot.com/2007/04/know-your-enemy-rats.html

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They are not interested in your chickens as such, but they are interested in the food that your chickens are eating. Having said that, they will attack (and kill) chicks, and they will take your eggs if they get a chance to. A rat might attack a chicken, but an angry chicken can be a mighty foe, and it is not unknown for chickens to kill (and eat) rats.

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I think one thing I would check is look for droppings. That might help narrow down the culprits.

http://nz.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080112234544AAO2si5

Here is another link to someone that had a similar experience.

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O.K., This is the weirdest killing I have ever seen. I've lived here in Missouri for almost 12 years and I have never seen anything like this in my life.

I went out this morning to feed my chickens and found one dead with it's head off and shoulders slightly missing. There was no traces of blood fround on the bird, near the bird, no blood inside the bird, no guts, no feathers ruffled, no feathers missing.

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Yeah....no droppings other than the millions (SLIGHT exaggeration) of feathers. If there were any "remainders" of chicken I believe it would be easier to identify. The other thing about the "rat theory" is that I have animals all over, as well as a pen of peacocks in the next coop over, and nothing has messed with them (yet, knocking on wood now)

Have you ruled out terrorists?

I haven't ruled out terrorists OR the Spanish Inquisition.

I WAS RIGHT!!!!

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Al_Qaeda_Chicken