Dead chicken, ripped open but no blood?

[StarrChicks]

Hi y'all,
So i came home this afternoon and found one of my hens dead. Her chest was ripped open and feathers were everywhere but there was no blood, not one single drop anywhere... does anybody know what could have done this? My husband and I were thinking maybe a hawk since he has seen one flying around for the past week but I cant say for sure. Wouldn't there be some drops of blood somewhere if it was a hawk? And wouldn't there be more damage than just her chest ripped open? Her head was still intact and had no cuts or anything. I'm so confused and also scared for my 6 other hens! Please help me figure this out so we can make our girls safe again!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Do you have a trail cam on them ? what is opening of your coop covered by chicken wire or hardware cloth can you attach pictures of your coop also

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Chupacabra? You are in Texas. Just kidding, I'm sorry for your loss. I think it's a raccoon they are wasteful little creatures. Unless it was already dead and then it could be a domestic cat?

 

[StarrChicks]

My chickens are free range during the day time and this is when it happened. I'm not worried about something getting inside the coop since we've never had a problem with that before. I just thought it was weird that there was no blood and that it happened in the middle of the day, do raccoons even come out during the day? After reading on a few other posts I was thinking maybe it was a weasel, but like i said no damage to her head at all just her chest...could a hawk be the culprit? We have seen hawks and a few vultures hanging around (nothing near us is dead so idk why the vultures would be here either) I'm still stumped! The other hens are all fine and dont act traumatized and all were still alive this morning when I let them out again. Could it have possibly been a rattlesnake that bit her, she died, and then a cat got her? I know, so many questions... sorry y'all.

 

[StarrChicks]

Chupacabra? You are in Texas.

This is actually funny bcuz I literally told my husband the same thing! I was trying not to cry so I made that joke. These hens are my pets, I've had them since they were 1 week old so losing one this way really hurt. Hopefully we figure out what did it so we can prevent it from happening again.

 

[cmom]

If you have a game camera I would put it up because it will most likely be back. Not long ago I lost my very special hen while free ranging during the day to a fox.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

It sounds like an aerial predator to me. Your hen may have been too large to carry off so it ate and left the rest. A weasel would have killed as many as it could get and would have only eaten a couple of bites.

 

[StarrChicks]

It sounds like an aerial predator to me. Your hen may have been too large to carry off so it ate and left the rest. A weasel would have killed as many as it could get and would have only eaten a couple of bites.

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. Now I have to go find old CDs to hang all over my yard...won't the neighbors love that lol (they complain about the chickens all the time)

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too. Now I have to go find old CDs to hang all over my yard...won't the neighbors love that lol (they complain about the chickens all the time)

Chicken haters are going to hate. LOL!

 

[taryn_brockway]

Hi y'all,
So i came home this afternoon and found one of my hens dead. Her chest was ripped open and feathers were everywhere but there was no blood, not one single drop anywhere... does anybody know what could have done this? My husband and I were thinking maybe a hawk since he has seen one flying around for the past week but I cant say for sure. Wouldn't there be some drops of blood somewhere if it was a hawk? And wouldn't there be more damage than just her chest ripped open? Her head was still intact and had no cuts or anything. I'm so confused and also scared for my 6 other hens! Please help me figure this out so we can make our girls safe again!

This same exact thing happened to me last night. I’m stumped and have no idea what could have happened but my hens chest was ripped open with no other wounds on her. My 2 roosters and another hen are also gone. Feathers all over the property. What could have done this???