Badgers and chickens?

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Does anyone here know if like how a fox likes to chew the head off a bird a badger does the same?

Thanks.

[Alsone 789]

Specifically heads no. But foxes like birds, obviously, and many predators in nature do go for eyes and brains because of the protein content. As for Badgers, they will eat almost anything meat based. Earthworms and hedgehogs are some of their main prey, but they are known to like the young of birds if they can get them. Specifically would one eat the head and discard the rest? I don't know. Maybe if it was already full from another meal. Now if you can tell me how they eat a hedgehog.....

[Sausagedog 7,381]

21 minutes ago, Alsone said:

Specifically heads no. But foxes like birds, obviously, and many predators in nature do go for eyes and brains because of the protein content. As for Badgers, they will eat almost anything meat based. Earthworms and hedgehogs are some of their main prey, but they are known to like the young of birds if they can get them. Specifically would one eat the head and discard the rest? I don't know. Maybe if it was already full from another meal. Now if you can tell me how they eat a hedgehog.....

No no mate. I don't mean just eat the head. Often Charlie before he kills another bird in a pen or range will chew the head off then move on to another and repeat until he get fed up of it and take just one bird.

Now, at the egg unit we have the odd bird go missing or occasionally a body minus the head but only badger prints.

The camera has not photographed a fox but has a badger!

During that hot summer we had starving badgers snatching chickens at lightening speed!

I am wondering if the problem is not a fox hence asking...like a fox, will a badger instinctively chew the head off the carcass before it's next move?

Thanks.

[Stavross 13,713]

My experience with them black and white terrorists is that unlike a fox they will only kill one and take it away I have never seen them take the head off like a fox and move on to kill another, that’s not to say they don’t just because I haven’t come across it

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Thanks.

I'm at a loss over this one.

[Alsone 789]

18 hours ago, Sausagedog said:

No no mate. I don't mean just eat the head. Often Charlie before he kills another bird in a pen or range will chew the head off then move on to another and repeat until he get fed up of it and take just one bird.

 

Yeah I know foxes kill for fun as well as food. I haven't heard of a badger just taking the head though. I could imagine it if it were already full from another meal, but to come back and repeat it, no clue. Maybe time for a trail cam to see if you can capture the behaviour. 

[walshie 2,804]

In my experience badgers are the prime culprit for eating heads.

[Baldcoot 2,352]

Yup ,theres a history of these fluffy likkle doggys doing this ,various reports of henhouses attacked by Brock as he like,s some chewy brains for his supper.Ive also seen first hand a shepardess in tears as theyve hearded lambs away from the mother and ripped them to pieces a horrible team effort  whilst she watched helpless to intervene .They are in plauge proportions and time to lift the ban on them imho

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Ah, that explains the mystery then.

Shame I can't do anything about it!

[Stavross 13,713]

I’ve just been concreting at a massive egg hatchery unit and was testing the water about shooting, anyway as it goes they don’t need my services because nothing is outside anymore, I got talking to an old boy there that had been in the game all his life so asked him about the fox/badger thing and he said when they did a lot outside and birds were killed and you found the carcass you couldn’t tell if it was a badger or a fox because they both kill the same way and will both remove the head ( I didn’t know that) he said the only way they could tell would be a fox would kill everything and leave most of them where as the badger would kill one or two and always try to take them, he then went in to methods of control but the only one I would advise was fencing

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Perfect stav. Thanks.

Thanks everyone