What killed my chicken

[mmcburney3]

So I free range my chickens and they have been doing this for about half a year now. They go in the coop at night and stay out most of the day. Today I came home and after 5 hours of being gone one of them was killed by some sort of predator. Now all that was left was some feathers and a small amount of intestines, it was also daytime. She was my smallest and friendliest hen and was only about 10 weeks at most. Whatever it was also left the rest of my hens alone which I thought was odd. My question is any ideas on what this may be? We ltove in Ontario Canada my thoughts were maybe coyotes, fox or neighborhood dog? Any suggestions?

 

[aart]

Were they all 10 weeks old?
Either easiest to grab or smaller.
Could have been any of those or maybe a bird of prey.

 

[ChicNmom]

Hard to say from what was left.

We used to let our out when we weren't home. Then one of our pullets got killed by a hawk. We came home while it was eating her.

We checked our camera and all the other chickens were hiding but that little one came out of hiding first while the hawk was waiting.

Now they don't go out unless we're home.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I'm thinking house cat because they often leave the intestines. Foxes carry them far away if they are going to eat them.

 

[mmcburney3]

Were they all 10 weeks old?
Either easiest to grab or smaller.
Could have been any of those or maybe a bird of prey.

Mixed flock so I have about 15 that are around the 10 week mark then the rest are bigger and fully grown. Would a bird prey leave only some intestines?

 

[aart]

Mixed flock so I have about 15 that are around the 10 week mark then the rest are bigger and fully grown. Would a bird prey leave only some intestines?

Maybe, if it tore it open then flew off with the rest.

 

[McChooky]

So I free range my chickens and they have been doing this for about half a year now. They go in the coop at night and stay out most of the day. Today I came home and after 5 hours of being gone one of them was killed by some sort of predator. Now all that was left was some feathers and a small amount of intestines, it was also daytime. She was my smallest and friendliest hen and was only about 10 weeks at most. Whatever it was also left the rest of my hens alone which I thought was odd. My question is any ideas on what this may be? We ltove in Ontario Canada my thoughts were maybe coyotes, fox or neighborhood dog? Any suggestions?

My own personal experience with house cats is they won't eat any feathers and are wasteful.They'll leave the biggest part of a bird uneaten and maybe eat its head or breast. (They don't eat the legs or wings) Cats eat 2-3 oz ounces at a time

 

[McChooky]

Weasels,minks and ferrets will bite their prey in the neck to kill it then rip their intestines out.They keep a stash of food to eat later.Do you have a pond nearby?