Headless chickens

[sourland]

I dont think owls would drag the carcasses deep into a bush

Actually, @Kessel23 is correct. I have found numerous cottontail carcasses 'cached' by GHO. They do return to feed off of the kill. I agree with Centrarchid that looks like a coon kill.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm confident that it is a coon and in my shot

The operative word here is the pronoun "it". If you live where there are raccoons (which is most of North America) and most other predators, your problem isn't the singular 'it' but the plural they/them.
If there is one, there are many. My game cams show a raccoon, mink, fox, coyote, etc. superhighway after dark.
An individual raccoon will have a mother/father, sons/daughters, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc..

 

[Kessel23]

Yeah, just because you see one coon does not mean there is one coon. When I first started having coon problems I thought there was only one or two, I started trapping them and did not stop for weeks. We still have coons by us... It is impossible for me to trap them all, they just keep on coming in. OP, you need to find out how they got into the coop and killed the birds and then block it off, it won't matter how many you kill, sooner or later there will be another attack on your flock.

 

[centrarchid]

I like to sneak up on them with a flash light. That is when you can see multiple as one time. They are not always bunched up either as some might be a hundred feet ahead or behind the main group.

Even GHO's not always alone, especially the young ones. A couple years back I had three young GHO's working my pens where only one would come down to carcass as a time to feed. This year only one at a time in yard, but I can hear at least two.

 

[Kessel23]

Mates will also join in on a kill. The parents will let newly fledged youngsters watch them on the hunt too.

 

[centrarchid]

This round I am not seeing GHO's in yard I can positively ID as adults. The adults can be heard in distance. The young ones appear to be getting most of their own eats under protective umbrella of territorial adults.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wanted to add that if the perpetrator was a raccoon (or family of them), it will come back but it isn't a sure thing that it will be tonight. Unless you live in the city where there is lots of food readily available in the form of dumpster diving, dog /cat food nearby, most raccoons have a huge range. They make the rounds visiting many different dens in the course of a week. That particular racoon may not be back for a week.

 

[Dharmachick]

I have mastiffs instead of a gun. They are great chicken protectors.

 

[Foxslayer16]

Ya I wait for them with a flashlight and pop them all

 

[Foxslayer16]

I also put a live chicken in a live trap with doors shut and put footholds on the outside