WARNING!! – The following post contains images that might disturb some readers

We need your help!

One of our twitter followers (Jodie @alpineblossom) sent us a message this week after sadly losing a number of her flock to an unidentified predator.

So we decided to see if we could crowd source the investigation into identifying the most likely culprit.

This is where you come in. We need your help to try and unravel this mystery and identify the most likely predator responsible for killing these chickens.

The Facts of the Case

This is what we know about the incident and the unsub – UNknown SUBject (yes I watch too much criminal minds!) so far:

The location of the crime is British Columbia, Canada.

The unsub squeezed in through a gap in the barn door and dug a 7 inch wide hole in the dirt floor.

The birds had no obvious wounds.

They all had ruffled feathers with signs of a struggle.

They all appear to have died from a broken neck.

The unsub killed 10 birds and pulled/dragged all of them out of the coop. (note the birds were found more spread out than shown in the forensic photos below).

Only one bird was partially eaten as shown in the photo below and the others were untouched.

Some scat (animal droppings) was found near the scene of the crime as shown below.

The Forensic Evidence

The following photos have been provided by Jodie @alpineblossom to help you identify the predator.

Some Information to Help

Common Chicken Predators found in British Columbia

The following is a list common predators found in the British Columbia area:

Bald Eagle

Canada Lynx

Cougar

Grizzly Bear

Peregrine Falcon

Raccoon

Red Fox

Spotted Owl

Wolf

Wolverine

Common Chicken Predators

The following info-graphic provides an overview of common chicken predators, their attack methods, and potential coop design solutions to protect your flock against these predators.

Over to you. If you have some experience with this type of attack please leave a comment or share this post with your friends to see if we can find a possible solution for Jodie.

Also if you don’t follow us on Twitter already you can find us at @myurbanchicken.

Since writing this post we received lots of feedback from the Backyard Chicken Zone community and we have since written a post summarizing the findings of which chicken predator was responsible for killing these chickens in “CSI (Chicken Scene Investigation) – Who did it?“.