What kind of predator?

[Newtothehens]

It's a long story: I recently broke my foot and am wearing a surgical boot. Yesterday it started raining very very hard, all day. My husband has been helping with the chicken keeping. But he works at night. After he left for work, I wanted to put the chickens away for the night. But they were scattered hiding from the rain. So I made bad decision, knowing how difficult it would be for me to round them up in the rain with an injury. I left the gate to their run open so they could get back in and roost for the night in the barn. In the morning, one chicken was wandering around in the rain, soaked. It scared me. Then my husband said when he Checked on them first thing he only saw two of the three birds. I frantically searched for her everywhere. They love to lay eggs in brush. Then I found a pile of feathers with little bits of tissue attached.

How can I tell what kind of predator attack this is? I know it was my fault for not closing the gate. But I am worried that my mistake has now given someone a road map to my other two chickens. If I can figure out what killed henny, then I can help prevent future problems.

 

[Newtothehens]

I should also mention I'm in southeast Michigan. Just one chicken was taken. The chicken was dragged around the from the gate and the door of the barn all the way around the run. The feather pile was on the other side of the run in some tall weeds. No bones or feet or heads. Just these feathers with bits of tissue attached.

 

[ivan3]

Sorry for your loss

Pretty neat pile of feathers, I'd guess fox (given sufficient time, i.e., no interference, to remove the feathers this is exactly what an "un-buried" cache site looks like - nothing to be seen but multiple, neat, piles of feathers).

Simply having chickens represents an attractive enough "destination" that every species of chicken eating vermin in your area will have a "road map", so plan accordingly. Keeping a freshly baited live trap set will often serve as the "path of least effort" to coons and opossums - sometimes/"maybe" fox and weasels/minks), so the pred might settle on the "prepared meal" rather than hunting through the rain for a hen hunkered down in tall grass/under deck/etc.. If run/coop isn't outfitted with welded wire/hardware cloth and, ideally, electric fencing - it will often not matter that the gate is closed.

We've screwed up and left the gate open, once. However, the time taken to keep the three havaharts set saved the day.

Sure hope you heal up the soonest!