What killed it?

[Lady EE]

Hi,
Last night, one of our hens got left out, and in the morning, she was dead. Whatever it was seemed to have been trying to eat the eggs out of her, as that was the only place she seemed to have been touched.She was an Icelandic.What killed her?
LadyEE

 

[Rocky Rhodes]

It sounds like an opossum or a raccoon. From my experience, raccoons will usually eat just the head and leave the decapitated corpse. I don't know if that is typical but I have had it happen several times. The opossum is probably the culprit. Most other predators, foxes, coyotes, or dogs usually only leave feathers behind. I had a lot of problems with predators until I got a dog. I have lost birds to all of the above. With a barking dog in the yard, most predators stay away. Animal traps work well, but you'll never trap 'em all. Sorry for your loss. Good luck.