cause of death/how to prevent this death

[sofie kahn]

about a week ago i found one of my chickens dead, no body parts missing. this bird was only missing the feathers on its back. from my understanding i believed that the other chickens pecked it to death because of a cut the chicken must of gotten. from later knowledge and other advise, i soon realized that this could of been the work of a coopers hawk. (i am not sure if this is true) the chickens are only out during the day, and that morning she was alive so i know that this act happened during the day.

from what it seems, did a bird/ predator do this? or was it the act of my other chickens?

if it was a predator, how can i prevent this from happening again? should i lock them up in their run? would i have to lock them up in there forever??? PLZ HELP

 

[chickengeorgeto]

about a week ago i found one of my chickens dead, no body parts missing. this bird was only missing the feathers on its back. from my understanding i believed that the other chickens pecked it to death because of a cut the chicken must of gotten. from later knowledge and other advise, i soon realized that this could of been the work of a coopers hawk. (i am not sure if this is true) the chickens are only out during the day, and that morning she was alive so i know that this act happened during the day.

from what it seems, did a bird/ predator do this? or was it the act of my other chickens?

if it was a predator, how can i prevent this from happening again? should i lock them up in their run? would i have to lock them up in there forever??? PLZ HELP

Locking them up is the surest way to protect them. But you only need to leave the door open and unguarded for an instant before a opportunistic hawk flies into your coop and helps it's self to one of your chickens.