Suggestion to identify predator

[littleoak]

I am agreeing with hawk or owl. I know an owl will drag its prey under something as I have had this happen. I have never seen a hawk do that but I don't rule it out. The only other slight possibility would be a weasel, but probably not. I have fruit tree netting (cheap) across the tops of my pens and it does keep predators out. If a predator does manage to drop through the netting they will not get out. What you do with the predator is your business.

 

[TheDarkLord098]

And I am not really questioning this, only wondering, how body ended under the shrubs.
Reason being, it's different lines of defense. If it's an airborne predator, I'll have to put bird netting over the fenced area. If it's a ground one, then trapping and such is considered.

It is probably a ground predator like fox or bobcat, because they move the prey and hide the body and eat. That's a hypothesis, but I prefer doing ground and air traps to be sure.

 

[zazouse]

Aren't owls nocturnal hunters? Our flock is locked in coop as soon as it's dusk outside.

I said bird of prey in my first reply and that an owl got my duck, a hawk most likely got your hen as she was drug under a bush

but owls will hunt in the daytime if they are hungry enough.

 

[kateseidel]

It's not like I have a sign up saying "chicken dinner" - but we've had our share of predators. Your mileage may vary.

The foxes, dogs, and coyotes eat the guts and breasts, rarely a head. You might find the body, but if you do, it is usually sporting a broken neck (they grab and shake), and the body has been torn open and the innards are spread or gone.

The hawks leave my birds like yours - occasionally, they will hit them in an open field, but more often they hit them with the first strike, the hen runs for cover, and the hawk goes in after it (which is why we find them in the bushes.) That distinctive picking away at the meat and leaving the intact bones is the dead give-away for me. We have smaller hawks - Cooper's type.

Racoons, and like varmints, eat the heads off. The hawks leave the heads intact and pick them clean. Ugh, remembering my poor Ethel with nothing left on her neck but the bones....

Have never lost a bird at night (they are locked up tight), but I would expect owls would behave the same way as hawks.

So sorry you have lost a bird - it makes me angry and crazy and frantic!