Lost my first chick yesterday

[Kadjain]

Lost a chick to a predator in the middle of the day. All that was left was a mess of feathers. No bones or body parts and barely any blood just on a few feathers.
What could if have been? A hawk? And will it most likely come back?

Thanks so much!

 

[easttxchick]

Probably a hawk. How old was the chick?
If it was a hawk, it will come back.

 

[Kadjain]

The chicks are two months old.

 

[LilBizzy]

I am so sorry you had to experience a loss. It stinks, to say the least.
I had one loss to a hawk a few months back. I didn't see it(thankfully) but my husband did. The hawk was just sitting there happy as can be, and all that was left of the chicken was a pile of feathers and the skeleton.
I have read here that hawks tend to carry the chickens off and eat them elsewhere. In our case this was a full grown standard sized chicken, so to be carried off might have been difficult. But from what I have read, yes, it could have been a hawk. But there are other possibilities also- one being a dog.
Unless there is a witness, or some really good tracks, it may be impossible to figure out what killed your chicken. Whatever it is, it could come back, and I would act on the assumption that it would be back.

 

[gpwelding1]

sorry for your loss Kadjain.it may have been a hawk.but judging from the feathers left behind with a small amount of blood on them,im thinking it may have been a domestic cat.

 

[weebles&wobblesmom]

Sorry to hear about your chick. I lost 1 of my Banties to a skunk last week. It managed to dig under the fence, but once it got under the actual coop, which is in our barn, we were able to fill in any holes that it could get in.

What a smelly situation when we finally trapped it in a live trap.

I do not let my chickens free range without me out there to watch. We have a LOT of hawks around. had 1 come out of a tree 1 day as soon as I let my flock out. If I hadn't been there, I probably would have lost 1.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Probably hawk, dog, cat in that order.
Sometimes fox and coyotes hunt during the day.

 

[Kadjain]

My chickens live in the yard with my goats. My goats try to run my own dogs out of the yard when there in there so I don't think it would've been easy for a cat or dog to take it.

Thank you all so much for you replies and support! I was heart broken when it first happened.