- Apr 19, 2014
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I let my 6 hens and 1 rooster out of their caged area for a couple hours (as I've done for years). Within an hour or two I discovered one hen dead with no head, then found my rooster dead with no head (he was huge and very nice), then quickly discovered piles of feathers in various locations but all fairly close to one another. No sign of any other carcass just loads of feathers. This all happened around 3:00 p.m. and within 70 feet of my home. We're in a rural area, have 3 cleared acres in the front and 3 heavily wooded acres in the back and on the sides, the house sits sort of in the middle. The kills happened in the front/side property. In the past we lost one hen to a roaming dog and one (I witnessed) to a hawk. After that, we covered their pen and only let them out for an hour or two every few days, have not had any more problems for a couple years...until this week. I have two very scared hens left. One actually appears to have escaped from this predator...lots of missing feathers but no wounds that I've found. After much reading, I'm thinking some sort of hawk...but would a hawk kill so many at one time? I just don't get it. Also..will the two remaining hens ever lay an egg again? Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.