colette04
Chirping
A week ago I was looking to find out what killed my chicken. You described it perfectly, it plucks out feathers and starts eating, along with a hole in its neck.....ugh hawks.@jeffreybar , i agree with you the predator was most likely a hawk. A mid-day attack, plus the piles of feathers around the carcass (hawks pluck feathers on birds before they eat), are classic hawk attack markers. Also, the fact the other flock members were visibly upset points to a hawk too. A hawk usually plucks and eats their prey where they killed it, & that causes a lot more stress to the other flock members that are forced to watch in horror, compared to larger predators that quickly carry their prey away.
As far as knowing what local predators are in your area (you werent sure about weasels), you can google (your county, state) native wildlife & learn your potential chicken predators. Ive never seen a weasel in my area either, but according to my local native wildlife search, black-tailed weasels are present here.
Its very true chickens are much happier with more freedom to range. Especially once they've tasted freedom outside of their enclosed run; before then they didnt know what they were missing. My flocks free-range daily in a wooded rural area with guardian dogs to watch over them. Still, over the years ive ocassionally lost chickens to hawks, fox, & even neighbor's dogs. Always during the daytime while they were roaming free. Its a constant, continual balancing act for sure. Very sorry for your loss.