What predator eats only the beak and feet?

[southerndesert]

RAT(s) would also be my first guess and I have seen the same type attack, they strike while the birds are roosting....

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
This is the right section.

Obviously it was moved from a different section.

 

[shelleyd2008]

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We've had a rat problem before and about the only parts they didn't eat were the feet. So I don't think it's rats. This was a baby duck that was free ranging with it's mama. Another reason why I don't think it's rats is that none of the other mamas (chickens or ducks) are losing babies, when we had rats before the baby chicks were disappearing fast.

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
We've had a rat problem before and about the only parts they didn't eat were the feet. So I don't think it's rats. This was a baby duck that was free ranging with it's mama. Another reason why I don't think it's rats is that none of the other mamas (chickens or ducks) are losing babies, when we had rats before the baby chicks were disappearing fast.

I will be interested to hear what you find, you have many predators we do not see here in the AZ desert....

 

[bryan99705]

I agree with the rats being a likely culprit. Get out the hardware cloth, clean out the coop, inspect it, cover all the possible accesses so you have a secure lockdown area. Also if it's not, raise the coop off the ground so they aren't living underneath and gnawing up thru the floor or a wall. Consider, if your feeder and fount are inside the coop, relocating them out of the coop, it attracts the vermin and leads them to noticing chicks.

 

[Chick Charm]

Sounds like a rat. Opposum could be the culprit but my guess is on a nasty little rodent that needs to die in a rat trap. Sorry for your chicken.