I'm new to chickens (6 barred rocks I got in September just started laying). Yesterday my son let them out to scratch around and didn't pay enough attention. Something scared them and they all hid. Only found 5. Looked for hours for that 6th bird. This morning she was laying dead next to an evergreen in our yard. I'm guessing she roosted there and sonething got her in the night? I know it was totally our fault for not keeping better watch. We'll be more careful in the future. But I'd still kind of like to know what got her. We live in a rural area. We have neighbors, but everyone has a 10+ acre lot and lots of trees. Several neighbors have chickens and free range them full time. We know there are plenty of preditors. We have seen hawks, owls, wolves, bobcats, wild dogs, skunks, possums... Her head was snapped back and a chunk taken from her breast.
If you don't know when it happened it's hard to say. It wasn't a wolf, bobcat, fox or large hawk - they would have taken it home and eaten the whole thing. If it happened during the initial attack I'd say a dog. They'll kill all they can reach for fun but if they only catch one they may chew on it a little. It can be a small hawk, owl, possum or coon.
