Ok what killed this guy? warning "graphic" photos.

[centrarchid]

Look at the bones! Raptors like red-tailed hawks do not do that.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Look at the bones! Raptors like red-tailed hawks do not do that.

I agree. Looks more like a chewing, gnawing predator.

 

[sdm111]

Yrs ago I had problems with possums they would only eat the guts and leave the rest.

 

[nab58]

Wow, when you say graphic, you really mean it! Is that corn from her crop in the 2nd picture?

 

[Mahlzeit]

Red tailed hawk, looks like same murder scene I had yesterday!!!, but any predator with start eating the soft tissue to get to the tasty meat

I agree with the red tailed hawk. For one rarely do raccoon's hunt during the daylight hours and I've never had a raccoon grab a chicken and eat it right there especially in the wide open in broad daylight. Also I've had chickens grabbed by hawks and this is the exact scene I walked up on. The hawks grab them by their neck and tear it open and start eating from there because its soft easy tissue to get through. In my opinion its a raptor. I don't see any "gnawing" of bone from this picture.

 

[Wyandotte12]

Thanks, what ever it was though appears to have actually gone into the pen to get him, his roost(s) were a good 5 ft. away from the doorway and one of them was actually knocked down onto the ground on one end with feathers around so looks like he put up a fight for his life.

 

[AshleyFishy]

Wow, when you say graphic, you really mean it! Is that corn from her crop in the 2nd picture?

Yup that is whole corn, sunflower seeds and whole oats. I use that as a snack for them.

Also I found my murderer! It was a hawk. It has been flying over my property now since the attack. The roosters are now hawk savvy and I have had no more losses. The hawk has been coming around less and less. So maybe he will give up one day.