What killed Lil' Bit - UPDATE: it's a hawk!!

i wouldnt think a vulture would attack a healthy hen. Maybe if she was wounded and had a broken leg or something he may swoop down to get her. I think it is very possible the vulture ate part of your chicken but i think that something else killed it then the vulture came to eat it. With the throat meat missing that sounds like a bobcat or coyote because when they go for prey they attack the neck and sometimes breaks it to kill it. Like watching lions attack zebras on the discovery channel.
I am very sorry for your loss i couldnt imagine that happening to one of chickens.
can you please give me more info on your chicken when the last time you saw her was any weird activity and her health... i may be able to help narrow down her attacker.

oh and if she was dropped in a bush after the killing it especially makes me think it was a bobcat because when they kill they carry their prey to a more confined area to eat so no one will steal it.
again like watching a jaguar kill a gazelle and putting it in a tree to eat it so lions wont steal it.

 

Sounds like a raptor - the "explosion of feathers" is a tell tale sign. They also break the neck or back of their target.

Raptors (also Ravens - the blimmy buggers) strip the carcass clean, generally starting with the crop area. With Ravens, I do not get an explosion of feathers, just the piles they pluck as they strip the body. Ravens (nasty snots) - at least here - chase and poke at the bird, killing it while on the ground with the victim. This year the Ravens have killed 6 of my Bantams (they seem to favor MF Cochins )


I have never seen the vultures hunt to kill - they DO land and walk around the property and look very silly bending to look under the sage, then take a huge step/flap to the next grouping. I *think* they are looking for dead stuff then - course I am not 100% sure.


We do have lots of Raptors here, and *knock on wood* so far my birds are not on their dinner menu (ok, except for the GH Owl who has a craving for Call Duck ) . We even have a Coopers that hangs around and will walk amongst the chickens (need to get a pict of that next time I see him/her). But Coop (as I call him) so far only hunts the small English sparrows, diamond doves and pigeons.



ETA - oops forgot, when Coop started hanging around last summer, I put up CDs hanging around the chicken yard. It did seem to stop him from hanging out there - course now the CDs are gone, the wind has whirled them away, and Coop now walks thru their yard hunting the sparrows.

 

Kat, I'm betting raptor. Again, so sorry for your Lil Bit. We euthanized our only Speckled Sussex today and am losing a Delaware girl, too. Nothing contagious, just crap we can't fix.

 

Not the vultures. A young eagle, yes, or hawk, either one.

 

Sorry for your loss of your cute Lil' Bit.

I think the vulture is a scapegoat for another predator. I've never seen a vulture actively hunt anything, though they will steal young and weak chicks and weakling animals/birds.

In my area, the vultures constantly keep an eye on the other predators and will show up within a few minutes after sensing a kill has been made.

 

I'm betting raptor too..

 

Sorry for you loss! I'd bet it was either a Cooper's or Red Tailed hawk that made the kill and got spooked off. The Turkey Vulture was just there to clean up after the fact. Even though my chooks are kept in a covered run, they still duck for cover when a hawk or eagle flies over, but when a vulture flies over, they look, then go about their business. Funny how they seem to know the difference. Keep in mind, it is hawk migration season right now, and they are looking for easy meals to fatten up for their journey!