What killed my bird? Pics of damage.

[ScotlandMassage]

We live on 7 acres of forest and wetland in southern Ontario. Everything's been good for 2 1/2 years. This March my chocolate cuckoo Orpington went missing. Found her not far from the house and coop in the woods in the underbrush partly eaten. A week later the birds were in an uproar. They were all hiding under the golf cart except the roo and two were missing. My dog alerted me to go to the front lawn and he ran directly to the hawk eating one hen under the cedar bushes where they like to hang out, roost and have dirt baths. He had just dug in and had some entrails out. He flew away when the dog ran up. The other hen was hiding under the front deck.
Then in August I heard a commotion right in the backyard in the edge of the woods at 3:30. I work from home and was with a client but a week old chick was missing afterwards. The next week we were out all day and home about 11:30pm. My other chocolate cuckoo who was raising one chick was gone. Found her right in the same spot the chick got taken from. Her neck was eaten down to the spine and some of her head. Now that's not how a hawk would eat but there was one flying around for a few weeks. I put her in the freezer and just butchered her for the dog this week and saw where she was injured underneath the skin. Both sides of her hindquarters I think, I will attach photos. Her crop was still intact and full of feed and her eyes still there. I'm thinking a hawk killed her and got scared off, our dog can come out of the house outside 50' away but I know hawks are very brave once they have their dinner so not sure about that. And maybe something else came along after dark and ate her neck? What would eat just the neck? We have coons and opposums but they mostly stay away with the dog who is loose unless we are out, and who knows maybe weasels??? Her 2 month old chick stayed in with another hen and her 3 chicks but the next morning stayed around the coop on her own looking for her mother presumably. I heard her cheeping while I was with a client and wanted to run out right then but when I was able to go out 20 minutes later she was gone and just a small scrap of her feathers. I had the window open and was listening but didn't hear anything.
This week my husband saw a hawk at 7:30am under our lilac bush on the front lawn that ran on the ground 15' to go under the cedars. Luckily our automatic chicken door had just broken two days before so the were still inside. I've been leaving them in later in the mornings to maybe avoid the hawk. Do they hunt early mornings more or anytime of day? Why do hawks announce their prescence with their call? I may play some hawk calls for the chickies just to make sure my birds stay on the lookout.

Andrea
Scotland, Ontario, Canada

 

[mesafox101]

looks a little like fox

 

[ScotlandMassage]

We also have a screech owl that spends time in our forest every fall, and I did hear him just a few nights around the end of August when Butter and her chick Margarine were killed (early for the screech owl and haven't heard it since). Does anyone know why the screech owl goes on and on with his eerie call? What is the purpose of it?

I also found a few ppl on post posts "Redtail and Coopers hawks will kill full grown chickens and eat head, neck, & sometimes part of the breast meat." that sounds just like how Butter was killed, but really just the neck.

The hawk that killed 2 in March did not eat like this however. Scotch's hindquarters were eaten, and I caught the hawk red-handed the next week just starting to eat her full grown daughter Bourbon, and he had only pulled some entrails out to start. I will pull her out of the freezer soon and inspect how she was attacked and eaten when I do my dissection.
Maybe different type of hawk?

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Once the predators find a good place to eat, they just keep coming.

Maybe a chicken tractor would be better for the safety of the hens while they are out of their enclosure.



God Bless

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I am 101% sure that your chicken predator is one (entering sarcasm mode) Of those beautiful, amazing, raptors, like a hawk or an owl.
Back in my salad days there was not a hawk in North America brave or foolish enough to sit on a power line, telephone pole, or tree limb as a car or pickup truck was driven down the road. Every farmer, homesteader, or rancher carried a shotgun in their vehicle and had a glove box full of ammunition suitable for transporting hawks to the promised land. As a consequence those beautful, amazing, raptors gave chicken flocks a wide berth indead.

Here is an example of how hawks' relationships toward humans and domestic poultry has changed in the last 50 or 60 years.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...929709d26c7b48fdeb95eda904a15a23&action=click

here is another example:

 

[BarredRockMom]

I am 101% sure that your chicken predator is one (entering sarcasm mode) Of those beautiful, amazing, raptors, like a hawk or an owl.
Back in my salad days there was not a hawk in North America brave or foolish enough to sit on a power line, telephone pole, or tree limb as a car or pickup truck was driven down the road. Every farmer, homesteader, or rancher carried a shotgun in their vehicle and had a glove box full of ammunition suitable for transporting hawks to the promised land. As a consequence those beautful, amazing, raptors gave chicken flocks a wide berth indead.

Here is an example of how hawks' relationships toward humans and domestic poultry has changed in the last 50 or 60 years.

Yep, I agree...lock & load. They will not stop coming around until it stops paying off.