Need help identifying this predator

[Chickenduckchick]

one of my girls was taken while free ranging the other evening. It was starting to become dusk out not quite though. She was near the woods with the rest. I didn’t see or hear a commotion but they all went to the coop and I did a head count and right away I knew one was missing. After much searching only thing I came back with was this one feather which is not hers. Is this a chicken hawk feather or an owl? I do hear owls back there where they were but only much later on when they would not be out. And we have hawks all over. I have looked but I still cant tell. BTW, I am in eastern NC...Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Kessel23]

There is a good chance the feather is unrelated. If it was a raptor you should be able to find some of the hens feathers and disturbance in the leaf litter. Raptors take a while to kill decent sized chickens because they can't just overpower them with their size like a canine or other predator can.
If there is nothing left it was probably a fox or coyote. You should go and look around out there for a while and see if you can find something.

 

[Chickenduckchick]

There is a good chance the feather is unrelated. If it was a raptor you should be able to find some of the hens feathers and disturbance in the leaf litter. Raptors take a while to kill decent sized chickens because they can't just overpower them with their size like a canine or other predator can.
If there is nothing left it was probably a fox or coyote. You should go and look around out there for a while and see if you can find something.

True, last time it was a fox and there was a mess left behind though. So strange, I plan on going further back in the woods this weekend to check for more evidence. Who ever the feather belongs to has been hanging out there for a while tho, there is a branch that it perches on either in the day or night Im not sure but there is lots of gross poop below. Guess I need to sit outside with my .22 lol

 

[Kessel23]

True, last time it was a fox and there was a mess left behind though. So strange, I plan on going further back in the woods this weekend to check for more evidence. Who ever the feather belongs to has been hanging out there for a while tho, there is a branch that it perches on either in the day or night Im not sure but there is lots of gross poop below. Guess I need to sit outside with my .22 lol

Fox can be all over the place with the amount of feathers left behind. If they catch the hen by surprise and firmly get her with the first bite they can take off without leaving anything behind.
For dealing with the raptor, just remember if you get reported and caught you could get jail time and a huge fine for killing one.

 

[Chickenduckchick]

Fox can be all over the place with the amount of feathers left behind. If they catch the hen by surprise and firmly get her with the first bite they can take off without leaving anything behind.
For dealing with the raptor, just remember if you get reported and caught you could get jail time and a huge fine for killing one.

Yeah, I know all about the laws. But my girls come first. They have been locked up since and they hate it. There coop/run is huge but they arnt free range per say. Sigh...