**Graphic** First chicken loss

[My2butterflies]

I went to lock my birds up and while walking the chicken yard I found one of my slw pullets dead
I didn’t see any tracks even though the ground is wet. Raccoon? Mink? Or is it more likely from an owl, eagle, hawk?
This is how I found her.

After I moved some branches

I flipped her over in an open area and saw that whatever killed her ate her head, neck, and part of her breast.

 

[centrarchid]

Looks like hawk action. Feathers plucked, meat pulled delicately rather than gnawed upon. Carcass present not consistent with canids and bobcats. If you do not have birds closed up, then store carcass in cool location and replace tomorrow morning. Perp is likely to return tomorrow, likely fairly early after sunup. Will increase odds of positive ID. Leaving carcass out overnight will have someone else come in for it.

 

[My2butterflies]

Looks like hawk action. Feathers plucked, meat pulled delicately rather than gnawed upon. Carcass present not consistent with canids and bobcats. If you do not have birds closed up, then store carcass in cool location and replace tomorrow morning. Perp is likely to return tomorrow, likely fairly early after sunup. Will increase odds of positive ID. Leaving carcass out overnight will have someone else come in for it.

That would explain the lack of any tracks. I just went out again to look around and couldn’t find any clue as to who did it.
All birds are cooped up and secure now. It’s so frustrating because I’ve been outside almost all day just feet away from the chicken yard. It must have attacked when I was in the house since the windows are all closed so I wouldn’t hear if the girls got all stirred up

 

[centrarchid]

Even with mammals, tracks can be hard to find. With Red Fox, I can often smell those guys.

 

[cmom]

So sorry for your loss. It could be most any predator. Right now it's just a guessing game. If you have a game camera put it up because the predator will be back and then you will know what you are dealing with. Most likely it has been lurking looking for an opportunity. Good luck...

 

[mommiesrcool]

I went to lock my birds up and while walking the chicken yard I found one of my slw pullets dead
I didn’t see any tracks even though the ground is wet. Raccoon? Mink? Or is it more likely from an owl, eagle, hawk?
This is how I found her.
View attachment 2325370
After I moved some branchesView attachment 2325371
I flipped her over in an open area and saw that whatever killed her ate her head, neck, and part of her breast. View attachment 2325372

I'm super sorry for your loss and I hope your other girls will be okay and stay safe

 

[My2butterflies]

Even with mammals, tracks can be hard to find. With Red Fox, I can often smell those guys.

I figured tracks would be easy to find because the ground in the area is mostly dirt. It also just rained so it’s soft and wet. But no tracks at all in the area.

So sorry for your loss. It could be most any predator. Right now it's just a guessing game. If you have a game camera put it up because the predator will be back and then you will know what you are dealing with. Most likely it has been lurking looking for an opportunity. Good luck...

Yeah, I think a game camera is in our future. I tried taking the above advice and sat out there this morning, but nothing came back.

I'm super sorry for your loss and I hope your other girls will be okay and stay safe

Thanks. They will be locked up today. Same with my free ranging guineas and turkeys. It’s another cloudy/rainy day so they won’t be missing much outside. Tomorrow I might let everyone have supervised time out, but then it will be two more days of being locked up while it’s rainy out.
It still just blows my mind that I didn’t see or hear anything. The chicken coop and run is maybe 50ft from the house.

 

[Flockincrazy]

looks like hawk behavior to me

 

[AppleMomma65]

So sorry! I'm in N. Wisconsin and this recent stretch of crumjy, cold weather is really a bummer as my chickens usually roam all day and now have been stuck in their coop except for an hour in late afternoon. It's a chore to round them up because they want to stay out but I want to hear/keep and eye on them and this weather doesn't make me want to open windows. Good luck this winter and I hope the rest of them stay safe!

 

[cmom]

Yeah, I think a game camera is in our future. I tried taking the above advice and sat out there this morning, but nothing came back.

It still just blows my mind that I didn’t see or hear anything. The chicken coop and run is maybe 50ft from the house.

Most likely you won't see the predator. They are good at hiding, lurking looking for opportunities. A bobcat killed 14 of my birds one night. It didn't come back the next night but did the following night, big mistake.
I just posted on this thread. I'm always looking for a good deal and good cameras.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/post-your-game-cam-pics-here.438535/page-319