Advice please, something got my hen today (((GRAPHIC PIC!!!)))

[Louieandthecrew]

I'm kind of thinking this looks like a fox or a hawk/owl would do this. Unless you live away from an area with those animals.

 

[dawg53]

A hawk would leave a pile of feathers around the carcass/area and the meat would be just about all eaten. Sorry for your loss, I can relate.

 

[TinyBirds]

Quote:
I really doubt a bird of prey. They only eat the head and neck meat (I have lost many many birds to hawks). With most daytime attacks (we have bobcats and foxes that sometimes come in the day), they take the bird with them rather than leave it there. If it was in the night, I would guess raccoon. I've had them rip birds through tiny holes. One of my poor silkies now just has 1 leg due to the other being completely ripped off through a crack in the wood coop. Raccoons normally eat the bird in the area it is exposed in your photo, but if it got scared off by something, it could've left before finishing. Maybe a dog or cat too though, hard to know without knowing what's in your area. We don't have dogs near our place luckily, other than coyotes, but the coyotes don't normally take anything unless it's out in the open.

 

[piper2009]

@12304, no I didn't hear anything the night before.

@Lollipop, we did take our dogs for a walk about 2 hours before I went out to check on them, so it is possible that we scared it away. Also, she probably had been dead for a few hours since there were ants all over her and the meat was kinda firm.

@bryan99705, I will post some pics of the coop she was in later tonight, so you can see it since it is kinda hard to explain.

As far as animals we have just about every thing except bears. I know we have bobcats since one got in my other coop the first part of the year and killed 7 hens and 1 roo. We also have many raccoons and opossums, and every once in a while we see a stray cat.

Also, the coop/run is completely covered.

Thanks so much everyone for all your input.
~Alex

 

[mrpekinduck]

Maybe a weasel?

 

[Gregschickens]

I'd say possum or raccoon. I would imagine that anything bigger would've carried it away rather than leave it mostly uneaten. It doesn't look like a cat to me either.

 

[gd4sumthnmom]

I was thinking a hawk or something also. I am sorry that this happened.

 

[piper2009]

I don't know if we have weasels around here.

Here are some pics of my mobile coop/run, my Light Brahma was in here when she was killed.
The front side. There is a door on this side that leads outside, it is right where the barn area meets the run area.

The back side.

The top door leading to the barn area,(it is open in the picture).

The door leading from the barn to the run. When I found my light Brahma she was right outside this doorway.

Also, all the doors were closed and latched, except the one that leads outside, it was unlatched but not open.
~Alex

 

[Saltysteele]

tough one. my guess would be raccoon.

bite marks don't match a bird of prey.

dog would have that thing coated in slobber, and wouldn't have tried eating it (unless wild, but it would have done a better job than what is shown)

large cat possibly, but seems like any large animal would have eaten more, unless disturbed in the middle of eating (had she just been killed, or had she been dead a while?)

raccoon would have the dexterity and ability to sneak into your coop if it was unlatched, and they would match the actions of biting the head and neck and ripping out the throat. but, it seems like it would have eaten more than what is shown, unless if disturbed

a weasel of some sort could sneak in, but from what everyone tells me and from what i've read, it would have killed more than just one, it would have went on a killing spree.

my guess would be raccoon

edited to add: looking at the pic again, it would appear whatever it was, was going for the guts. again, sounds like a coon

 

[saddina]

The latch part makes me think racoon as well. looks like it begun and left mid-meal (is it possiable it did the killing before you left with the dogs and you didn't see till after?) Either way set a trap, whatever it is will return for more meals.