What's getting my chickens?

[Chickensoftherainbow]

Something has been picking off my chickens, one at a time. Up until yesterday I have one seen a few feathers left here or there. About 100yds from the coop at the end of my driveway I found a pile of feathers(see pics below) followed across the road to and old road bed and found 2 more piles, and then a half eaten chicken. Probably about 150-200yards total in distance. I walked the steps again today checking for tracks and nothing obvious(leaves are covering the ground and the drive way has been drove through several times). Anyways, I found 2 more piles of feathers further, where it came back and got the chicken to finish eating it. It ate everything except for the legs, and seemed to have gotten off as many feathers as possible. The only thing I can find track wise is a round circle about the size of a half dollar where leaves are obviously cleared. Any ideas???

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Knowing your location would help a lot. Not every predator lives everywhere. But given everything in your post, my first guess would be a hawk.

 

[coltgrizzz]

It could really be a whole bunch of things but it all depends where you are from. Where i live bear, fox, and raccoons are the ground dwelling problem. I would check around the coop, or do you free range them? If they are kept in the coop i wouldn’t doubt it if it was a fox. Those sneaky bastards would be able to slip in and out of the coop with a chicken undetected even if you had trip wire!

 

[50-45-1]

Is it getting them during the day, or night.
My first guess would be fox. But alot of time they take the bird back to there den.
Ive had racoon and possum leave me damage like this but it was night time loss due to my old coop that was not very secure.
Possibly could be your neighbors dog?
I think i would keep the chickens pened for a few days and put up a couple game cameras to figure out what it is.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Primary daytime predators are hawks and dogs.
A dog will kill all the birds it can catch.
Nighttime predators can be anything but hawks.
A raccoon often kills multiple birds and rarely carries them anywhere to eat.
Opossums don't carry them off either and usually only eat about a quarter of the bird..

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I’m so so sorry for your losses!

 

[Melissacoop]

Do rats pose a threat??

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Rats do pose a threat. If they have a hankering for meat, they could attack a bird on the roost at night but won't carry it a long way off.

 

[Howard E]

To the OP, high probability it is a fox. Best way to find out is to get yourself a game camera and set it up to record activity at the coop. Unless birds are being picked off while free ranging (happens a lot). If that is the case, then keep them in and use game camera at the coop. Culprit will almost certainly show up to see why his dinner isn't being delivered as usual.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm going to make a couple of observations but they might not help you identify the culprit.
Hawks have small stomachs and tend to favor the internal organs and leave the rest.
Weasels often just take the head. They feed the brains to their kids.
A fox would eat that much but they usually carry the whole chicken away if they just killed one.
A dog could make that kind of mess.
A mink, if you have them there tend not to leave such a trail of feathers because they kill so quickly and carry away.
I'm just guessing like everyone else.