What ate my chicken?

[JacinLarkwell]

Bit late, OP, but have you considered it being a cat? We lost a bird very similar a few winters ago to a feral running around

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

Do hawks eat something else's already dead prey?

As far as I know, all birds of prey will eat carrion, it's just not their primary food source. It's one of the reasons Benjamin Franklin objected to the Bald Eagle as our nation's bird--he wanted the turkey.

 

[cooingdove]

hi, sorry for the late post, the graphic pic might help, the chances are it was a coon, keep us updated if he comes back. (unless you make it harder to attack, this robber will very likely be back)

 

[Unhackable21]

So sorry for your loss. If you have a game camera, put it up because whatever it was will be back and then you will know for sure what your dealing with. Maybe and owl? I have several cameras on my property and see predators quite regularly on them. Awhile back I had an owl go through some crappy netting. I covered all of my pens with some good netting but ran short and bought some online but it wasn't what I thought it was and should have returned it but put it up thinking it would probably deter any aerial predators. Wrong, an owl went right through the crappy piece of netting three times and killed some birds. Each time the owl went through I put another piece of the crappy netting up because it was all I had at the time. I have since replaced it with some good netting and moved the birds to another coop and pen and the owl tried again but this time got caught in the netting. We managed to get it into a cage and a wildlife rescue came and got it. Hard to say what killed your bird. I have posted these pictures before. Good luck...
View attachment 2569231View attachment 2569234

If you are looking for affordable and super durable netting, I found a source in Europe that makes pro soccer netting (golf and batting cage netting as well) at any size you need. I bought pieces as large as 200' x 20' and 30' x 80' for my enclosure and it cost a fraction of what the cheap bird netting costs. (pic). the netting is bound along the edges, so it is easy to mount and it is UV-rated for 7 years of direct sun exposure. Birds don't get caught in it and it keeps out the Great horned Owls, Red Hawks and Ravens, all of which we have in large numbers here. I chose the 2mm netting, which is actually very thick and holds a bobcat climbing on it. See video:

 

[cmom]

I saw your video on another thread. I originally bought my netting off eBay. It was unbelievably inexpensive but good heavy duty 2" mesh, 200'x50' for $125. I put a max bid in thinking it would go for a whole lot more. To my surprise I won the bid. This was years ago but it is still in very good condition.

 

[cmom]

I replaced the crappy netting since with good heavy duty netting. When the owl tried to go through the new good netting it got caught in it. We got it into a cage and a wildlife rescue came and got it.

 

[tree_tyger]

"Each time the owl went through I put another piece of the crappy netting up because it was all I had at the time. I have since replaced it with some good netting"

Can you clarify what you consider to be good netting as well?

 

[Cerci]

Birds pick carcasses clean. Animals with mouths like coons, cats or dogs crunch bones leaving a mess not at all like a turkey at thanksgiving.. I am sorry you lost your girl, that must have been quite distressing. I'd put money on it being a resourceful predator bird.

 

[cmom]

Can you clarify what you consider to be good netting as well?

 

[cmom]

This was the picture of the crappy netting I ordered.

This is what it looked like when I actually got it.

I put it up anyway thinking it would deter aerial predators. Here is the owl going through the crappy netting.