Chicken predator question

[cyberbeeny]

7 month old black giant hen found in the pasture inside the fence line . . . just a pile of feathers, two legs and part of the back bone . . . oh yeah and an unbroken egg. Have a Buff Orphington who was attacked and was lucky . . . just lost a handful of feathers on her back. One Barred Rock was never found any trace of. Any suggestion of what may have been the culprit? Live in NWTN so there's plenty of predators . . . after looking at several sites with the description of the leavings of different predators, I'm wondering whether it could have been a bobcat as I found nothing about their leavings. Thanks.

 

[sourland]

I'm leaning towards a raptor. I'm thinking most mammals would have eaten the egg and carried the legs and backbone away. Check the kill site and see if there is any 'whitewash' present. Raptors frequently defecate before leaving a kill - as do many mammals - fox in particular.

 

[Howlet]

Based on where you live, it could have been more then one predator. i agree with above on the Orphington and Black hen, but with the barred rock, i have heard that Coyotes carry off whole birds