What ate my chicken?

[Smccau3]

Unfortunately, one of my chickens was killed today. I only found a clump of feathers attached to skin in my kitchen (I am assuming one of the dogs dragged it in). There was no other evidence that the chicken was attacked. None of my other chickens were harmed. The chickens free range in our fenced in yard.

I'm sure some of you will say it was our dogs, however they do not bother the chickens. We have had the chickens for a year and a half and have never had any problems. We do live in a wooded area and recently saw a fox in the yard outside the fence.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

They generally carry the kill away. Time for some traps.

 

[aart]

OhGeez...what a way to find a dead chicken!

Sounds like the dog showed up too late, fox got chicken dead - dog got dead chicken instead of killing fox.

 

[wormraiser]

There's your most likely answer.
They generally carry the kill away
Time for some traps

I second this.

 

[Smccau3]

I was also thinking it was the fox. The gun is ready for if we see it again.

My dad seems to think it could have also been a feral cat. We have a good amount of feral cats that roam our street and are often in our yard.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Cats almost never kill grown birds, and most likely would have eaten a very small amount and left the bird there

 

[Smccau3]

Cats almost never kill grown birds, and most likely would have eaten a very small amount and left the bird there

That's what I thought. What about a hawk? We have a lot of those around so I feel like that could have been the culprit.

We live in an area with a lot of ild animals and it is very frustrating to not know what killed my hen.