Picking? or Predator? ( Warning Graphic Pics!)

I found one of my little blue chickens lying on the cage floor dead. I picked him up and the only injuries were on his back right below his wing some looked like small cuts.
I have 6 fawn duckwings and 4 of the blue and i have seen just a little feather picking just the grab and run type. I have had a couple die in the past from a sudden picking frenzy which you can never predict when those will occur.
But i hadn't had their light on at night since the nights have been kind of warm here recently. So now i'm wondering if it was picking or a predator i would like some opinions on this. If it's picking i will trim beaks predator i will keep their light on.
Edited to say you can see where the others have trampled him so i couldn't tell if this happened last night or sometime early this morning. I went out about 10 and it had been light about 3 hours.

This message was edited Dec 11, 2008 12:20 PM

Here's his injuries as you can see they are not severe enough to cause death.
I believe he died of shock/trauma from the attack i have been laughed at for saying that but i have personaly seen it.
I've seen chickens dead with minor injuries and the only explanation was the shock/trauma of being attacked.

Here is one of the ones that looks like a cut and i've seen these on picked chickens but also on a Dove attacked by a Weasel.

Any opinions would be appreciated

Harmony, where on the bird is that? It looks to me like tears on (both side of) the back of the neck which would be more indicative of predation (and subsequent heart failure from shock...). With pickin don't they zero in on one spot?

It's right there at and under one wing it's not on the neck i had to lift the wing and some feathers to see it. Well sometimes if theres more than one and it's usally a free for all doing the picking they will pick randomly.


This pic is under the wing

It dosen't look like pecking to me. It looks like it was grabbed by something and possibly ribs were crushed and punctured a lung. It would be really tough for anything to peck under the wing, but is a common spot for a preditor.

I thought it was in front of the wing, but if it's in back, then even more likely to be a predator, right? Jaws...(sorry)

Do you think it was a Weasel i thought whatever it was would of tried to eat it??

Yes now that i have others opinion i'm thinking predator and that begs the question how did it get in this pen??

(theres no cochins in the pen this pic is from the summer)

Could a 'coon stick a hand through and grasp...

I'm thinking either Weasel or Rat but i've had rats as long as i've had chickens and never had one kill a chick or chicken. Had the weasel ate about 5 of my doves Grrrrrrr

But why did it just kill it and not eat it??

Well i went down to feed and no chickens or birds were injured or dead. I did happen to notice it was a full moon last night and the attacks weve had in the past were on a full moon.

Seems the predators prefer to have a light when they kill.

Oh my God! You must have a werechicken! (It would have been funnier if I knew how to spell that)

Does the roof lift up or is that nails/screwed down?
The cage looks secure but weasels are amazing when it comes to getting into small spaces. I know. I have ferrets. It could have been interrupted by something or someone. You never know. I am sorry for your little blue! :( That is sad!