Do hawks kill but leave chicken bodies uneaten?

[CHICKADEE6]

The entire chicken was gone.only feathers on the ground

 

[pjellen]

We have had 2 hens killed in the past two weeks. Only their neck and head had been eaten. It was a hawk that is the predator. We saw it after both kills. It is very frustrating to invest your time and money and then have something just swoop down and kill your investment and also your pet.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I believe red tailed hawks can be rather opportunistic. I've seen them feeding on deer carcasses before. To echo what Darin367 said, it seems like you have a predator problem involving more than hawks.
Best of luck to you.

I lost all respect for hawks years ago when I was driving down US 278 and spotter a red tail hawk sitting on the shoulder of the highway eating a road killed raccoon that had obviously seen better days. While not 5 feet away a murder of crows waited patiently for the second table to be set.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We lost a four month old rooster yesterday.all we found was a halo of plucked feathers in a field.no carcass.does hawks carry prey away to a nest? We r wondering what got him.

A 4 month old rooster may be light enough for a female red tail hawk to make off with but only after she has first eaten her fill. It is also very very likely that some other opportunistic chicken predator like a fox, coyote, etc cleaned up the remains of your rooster. Animals seldom look at leftover food like we humans do and say, "EEEW I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole". Isn't that why we call them "animals"?