Just lost my first chicken - help me figure out what got it? (warning: picture)

[jillstu]

Facts:
- I live in the pacific northwest; rural suburbia bordering forest.
- Animals that have been seen in my neighborhood: bear, cougar, bobcat, coyote, raccoon, possum, weasel, rat, snake, owl
- Opened the coop up earlier than usual this morning 6am and left at 6:30 on a foraging trip to eastern washington. I was back at 2pm. My husband was home until noon and says he didn't hear anything chicken related. Our dog barked around 10 am, but that's not unusual.
- Part of a 6 ft welded wire fence was down. It wasn't attached with staples, as I sometimes open it up to expand the paddock, but it's very unlikely it just "came undone", something probably tried to get in.
- there are a lot of feathers right by where the fence was down, and then a trail of feathers off into the woods.
- the path through the woods is fairly thick brush, and didn't show evidence of a big animal crashing through
- the animal crossed over a muddy stream, but I didn't see any obvious prints
- I found the carcass, about 75 feet from where the predator took her - most of that path would have been through brush
- As you can see from the picture, whatever it was didn't eat her, but did rip her open and gnaw a bit.
- My other four chickens are alive; one has lost a few feathers and is hiding in the nest box, but otherwise seems unscathed. teh other 3 seem totally fine.

So it seems like it would have to be something heavy enough to take down a fence, big enough to carry a full grown golden-laced wyndotte a good distance into the woods, but small enough to drag a carcass under a thick brush pile (6 in - 1 ft clearance?) Based on all that I would think bobcat - solo, small, strong - but I also wouldn't have expected to find that much of a carcass left. Any one have any insights? Obviously I need to secure that section of fence better, but I'd like to figure out if there's more I should do.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[nab58]

Any foot prints or fur left in the fence?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You better add a hawk to your list of predators. He or she likely first penned your hen against your fence, knocking it down and then rode the struggling hen for 75 feet nibbling on her every step of the way.

 

[jillstu]

No fur or prints.

The hawk is an interesting idea, although I have a hard time imagining a chicken with a hawk attached would be able to make it through a dense thicket of salmonberry and end up under a brush pile with low clearance.

I also found a spot by the edge of the forest where the green plants were all matted down, so I suspect whatever it was, laid there to wait until it saw it's chance. ...and I went back to the carcass a few minutes ago, and now it's completely gone, so I suspect I disturbed whatever it was initially and it is indeed an animal that eats the whole bird.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

No fur or prints.

The hawk is an interesting idea, although I have a hard time imagining a chicken with a hawk attached would be able to make it through a dense thicket of salmonberry and end up under a brush pile with low clearance.

I also found a spot by the edge of the forest where the green plants were all matted down, so I suspect whatever it was, laid there to wait until it saw it's chance. ...and I went back to the carcass a few minutes ago, and now it's completely gone, so I suspect I disturbed whatever it was initially and it is indeed an animal that eats the whole bird.

Or a scavenging predator who got lucky..

 

[gander007]

I Have had fox and bob-cat and what ever did that was nether of them ...

 

[Cknldy]

I say one in the big cat category due to the matted down grass 'waiting' area. Racoons, etc usually don't lie in wait like the felines do. Those big cats can get down pretty low too. I agree that you probably disturbed it while it was eating. Because it left the kill when you came around it probably wasn't starving but was just hungry so it snatched up the food when you retreated. Did you get chills when you were standing there? Bet it was watching you so be careful.