I believe Big Blue died because he was trying to protect his hens! My husband found him still slightly warm (in a wooded spot behind the coop) and partially eaten in his chest area near/under his wing. This rooster was a good size, and I can't believe a sparrow hawk could do this? That's the only type of hawk I've ever seen around here though. Blue had no other visible wounds, but there were a lot of feathers scattered, including several of his tail feathers. The skin on his neck almost appeared to be bruised but there were no other punctures or lacerations. My other birds are terrified (they all free-range). Can anyone tell by the area eaten what did this? I'm beside myself.
That wound looks awful but I would be surprised if it was a crow that did the damage. We have so many crows around here that live in the spruce and redwood trees next door and have never given our chickens a hard time. They pretty much go about their business and I believe when they have eggs or baby crows they tend to chase the hawks away. I live in California and it could be the crows are smaller or not as aggressive here. For the last three weeks we have been scaring off fox, possums, raccoons, cats from the chicken area. 
