Found 8 of my 32 chickens killed after I came home from my soccer tournament

[David61]

a free chicken dinner , they will be back.

 

[catballou]

Yeah I let my ladies free range the property, all their bodies and feathers were found outside of their run

It could have been anything. Coyotes, dogs, fox. I'm guessing coyotes or dogs.
I lost 4 in one evening. Just before they were supposed to go to bed. I only. Found 1/2 of a chicken. And she and another missing one were my favorites

I do not let them out any more until the leaves come back out.

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

So I came back from a 3 day 4hour away soccer tournament of mine, and found 5 chicks (I just let all the chicks out) and 4 of my hens dead. All the hens bodies except one of the hens wings were gone. And all the chick bodies were there except two of them had their heads ripped off, and the other chicks that passed didn’t look like they had any injuries. But there was feathers everywhere for all of the dead ones, even the ones missing. My dad was taking care of them while I was gone and he said he didn’t notice anything until when I got home. So it all happened in around 1-2 days. I live in a 5 acre forest in Washington state so there is literally every predator here but I just don’t know which on this would be. I just celebrated the 1 year anniversary like 8 days ago of my 4 ladies that got picked off by what looked like coyotes. And I have a chick, and a chicken in shock but still alive. And all my hens and chicks are free range, but I locked them up now.

Sorry this happened to you. A similar situation happened to me last May. It turned out to be a fox. We caught it on camera lurking around.

 

[Jakemedic]

It could have been anything. Coyotes, dogs, fox. I'm guessing coyotes or dogs.
I lost 4 in one evening. Just before they were supposed to go to bed. I only. Found 1/2 of a chicken. And she and another missing one were my favorites

I do not let them out any more until the leaves come back out.

I spend most my evening before the sun goes down with my girls, allowing them out to free range a bit. A friend of mine calls me the chicken whisperer. . Can I ask why you don’t let them out anymore until the leaves com back out? We are new chicken keepers, so I’m curious about your statement. Also, how do you keep them in? I have a door to the run and they are all lined up waiting to free range when I go down. Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide. I would be totally heartbroken if something happened to my girls!
Jake

 

[McChooky]

Birds of prey don't typically kill multiple birds leaving a traumatized flock with feathers scattered everywhere so this is a 4 legged predator .A fox grabs one and takes it to its den or in the case of multiple foxes kills as many as possible carrying them off one by one.

 

[Greta A]

i am in oregon and i lost 20ish birds last year to mostly hawks. i saw one being carried off.. and yes they were full grown. i have a house that i closed at night.. but my birds disappeared in the day time. we built a run. now i only let them out when i am home.. there was one raccoon that has been taken care of.. we had peoples dogs kill birds on two separate occasions.. it is hard when you live in the woods to keep birds ... but it is possible good luck

 

[McChooky]

Considering you've lost birds to coyotes in the past it could also be coyotes. Providing your chickens a secure coop and run is the only sure way to prevent more losses.Whatever it was will be back for the rest. Sorry for your loss!

 

[LuciferRoo]

It could have been anything. Coyotes, dogs, fox. I'm guessing coyotes or dogs.
I lost 4 in one evening. Just before they were supposed to go to bed. I only. Found 1/2 of a chicken. And she and another missing one were my favorites

I do not let them out any more until the leaves come back out.

I agree. I lost 6 young hens, a 2 month old chick and a couple of roosters to a pack of 3 dogs.
Additionally most of my remaining roosters were also injured.
There were feathers everywhere.
The scene the OP described sounds like what I found.