*graphic pictures. What did this?

[Sinadrea]

I came home from work to a giant radius of feathers and the last from my first group chickens is missing skin on the chest and her head is ripped off but not eaten. Also, thigh meat was eaten.
The rest were hiding in some tall weeds by the house. After they saw me they were squawking back and forth from 2 areas they were all hiding. They eventually came out in the evening.

If this is from a hawk, do i permanently have to lock the chickens up?

We live in a rural area by a lot of crop fields and they have been free ranging since I started raising chickens.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

My guess would be a cat or an opossum. Raccoons usually take off the head, but it could several small animals...

 

[DemeterAD9]

Could very well have been a hawk. They will pluck a bird to get to the meat, while they can eat bones from small animals like mice and small birds they tend to pick off the meat from larger animals like rabbits and apparently chickens. Seeing how picked clean the neck bones are I wouldn't think it would be a coon or possum as they will eat all but the biggest bones.

If it were a cat I would expect the head to be missing as that seems to be the first part a cat eats.

I don't know what you can do for your birds against hawks but I will say that any breed with a head tuft like this poor bird had will be at a disadvantage. The extra fluff blocks part of their vision.

 

[McChooky]

I agree about the poor vision. I wouldn't get any of them unless I liked it well enough to trim it's feathers around its face all the time. Hawks are bad if you don't have netting over the big open spaces. They need a few hiding spaces .I never leave my chickens out and go anywhere.Sorry for your loss!

 

[Sinadrea]

Could very well have been a hawk. They will pluck a bird to get to the meat, while they can eat bones from small animals like mice and small birds they tend to pick off the meat from larger animals like rabbits and apparently chickens. Seeing how picked clean the neck bones are I wouldn't think it would be a coon or possum as they will eat all but the biggest bones.

If it were a cat I would expect the head to be missing as that seems to be the first part a cat eats.

I don't know what you can do for your birds against hawks but I will say that any breed with a head tuft like this poor bird had will be at a disadvantage. The extra fluff blocks part of their vision.

Thats a shame. She just had 2 babies so I hope the younger one doesn't get the pouf in that case. The older one doesn't have it. Polish are special breeds, it sucks that makes them easier targets. We're thinking it was a hawk too so I will lock the chickens up for a few days.

 

[McChooky]

Thats a shame. She just had 2 babies so I hope the younger one doesn't get the pouf in that case. The older one doesn't have it. Polish are special breeds, it sucks that makes them easier targets. We're thinking it was a hawk too so I will lock the chickens up for a few days.

Cut the feathers off so they can see and they're very capable free rangers.Leaving your chickens out while you are at work won't end well if canines find them.They don't take one at a time like hawks

 

[Sinadrea]

Cut the feathers off so they can see and they're very capable free rangers.Leaving your chickens out while you are at work won't end well if canines find them.They don't take one at a time like hawks

Our yard is fenced but I guess a canine could sneak in if it really wanted to. The chickens have been free ranging for a few years so this is all new to me. I guess I didn't think anything would happen because they were okay for so long. I will think of a new schedule for them when I'm home from now on.

* To make matters worse, our oldest dog just passed away an hour ago so it's been the craziest day we have had in a while!