- Sep 24, 2012
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It looks like the attack started closer to the house and slightly uphill from where the body was found due to the presence of feathers there. She was ultimately found under some low hanging branches (~3ft off the ground) with most of one side ripped off and two areas of "feather explosion" nearby. Total distance of the feather trail was about 30ft downhill. Crop and guts were still intact, just looks like most of the muscle down to the thigh bone was eaten.
We think it was a hawk but aren't sure. Only possible predators are hawks, raccoons, and outside house cats. The attack happened around 9AM based on how the rest of the chickens were acting on the webcam.
She was due to be culled this spring and wasn't laying much so its not a huge loss practically but it still never feels good to lose a chicken. The rest of the chickens are confined to the run for now until we feel like the hawk doesn't think this is the place for free meals. Until this they've been able to free range all day without much incident. Hawks have given flybys in the past but usually the crows keep the hawks busy.
We think it was a hawk but aren't sure. Only possible predators are hawks, raccoons, and outside house cats. The attack happened around 9AM based on how the rest of the chickens were acting on the webcam.
She was due to be culled this spring and wasn't laying much so its not a huge loss practically but it still never feels good to lose a chicken. The rest of the chickens are confined to the run for now until we feel like the hawk doesn't think this is the place for free meals. Until this they've been able to free range all day without much incident. Hawks have given flybys in the past but usually the crows keep the hawks busy.
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