What killed my chicken?!

[MEchickenfarmer33]

Unfortunately today I found my first killed chicken today She was ripped open, breast eaten, neck feathers ripped off and feathers everywhere! There were other black feathers from another chicken that could have gotten attacked but none of them had injuries. It was just this one and they were all free ranging when it happened. I heard NOTHING and went out and found her bout 5 feet in the woods. What do you think killed the chicken?

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

any ideas???

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm so sorry for your loss! i guess my first guess would be a raccoon, but i'm not sure what kind of predators you have in your area. Hopefully someone who lives in that general region will chime in with a more educated guess.

 

[flockman]

That is how raccoons have killed and eaten our birds. I have had them kill 5 birds at a time. Hope you eliminate the issue.

 

[amillecay]

So Sorry Like the above said, it sounds like a raccoon.
I found this a while ago https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-predators-pests-how-to-protect-treat-your-flock when I wasn't sure what had gotten into my chickens and this helped.
Hope you figure it out!

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

I would think it would be dog, fox or coyote. A bobcat carries it off and then eats it. So if it was carried off a ways before eaten then could have been bobcat. A racoon is night predator so I would be looking at day predator before I would night one. Anyways good luck with finding it. I would set live trap.

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

Thanks! Either a raccoon or a fox i think. Is a possum a culprit? My neighbor had just seen one about two weeks ago around the house. Anything that we see that could kill the chickens are shot immediately here. Better safe than sorry!