Hawk or fox? *graphic*

[Mak24456]

Today I got home this afternoon and was informed by my neighbor (also a chicken person) that Red, one of our 3 suburban backyard hens, had been killed. They are a small flock and are our pets, so in between tears I ask for someone to help identify what happened to to her.








As you can see, her back has been plucked and there is a single deep puncture connected to the gash, and a less serious scratch below those. There are a couple small piles of feathers outside where it happened, I assume. Her neck is intact.

The neighbors said it happened at around 8 am. It is already light out by then. They heard a huge amount of crows and their dog barking, so they went out to check on their own chickens and saw ours instead. The predator was already gone. They think it was a fox because of their dog's reaction and the fact they had seen a fox yesterday. I'm leaning more toward hawk because of the time and the crows. Can someone ID the wound or give some insight? It'd be much appreciated.


Little story of our flock:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-case-of-the-missing-eggs
She wasn't even a year old but I think she had a good life.


Do you think we should keep the remaining two locked up for now? I really don't want this to happen again, but I feel it's unfair to them since the coop run is very small compared to the yard that they're used to.

 

[BYCforlife]

I am not sure, I am very sorry for your loss. If you put twine over the top of your run, spaced 1 foot apart, that will eliminate hawks.

 

[dekel18042]

Today I got home this afternoon and was informed by my neighbor (also a chicken person) that Red, one of our 3 suburban backyard hens, had been killed. They are a small flock and are our pets, so in between tears I ask for someone to help identify what happened to to her.








As you can see, her back has been plucked and there is a single deep puncture connected to the gash, and a less serious scratch below those. There are a couple small piles of feathers outside where it happened, I assume. Her neck is intact.

The neighbors said it happened at around 8 am. It is already light out by then. They heard a huge amount of crows and their dog barking, so they went out to check on their own chickens and saw ours instead. The predator was already gone. They think it was a fox because of their dog's reaction and the fact they had seen a fox yesterday. I'm leaning more toward hawk because of the time and the crows. Can someone ID the wound or give some insight? It'd be much appreciated.


Little story of our flock:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-case-of-the-missing-eggs
She wasn't even a year old but I think she had a good life.


Do you think we should keep the remaining two locked up for now? I really don't want this to happen again, but I feel it's unfair to them since the coop run is very small compared to the yard that they're used to.

Of the two choices I'd say hawk. The chicken appears to have been hit from above leaving a pile of feathers. Most foxes would just pick up a chicken and carry it away and you wouldn't see a trace. Our two biggest predators here are foxes and hawks and with foxes they just disappear. The body isn't found. Usually a large fowl chicken is too large for a hawk to carry away and they just eat what they can at the site. Sometimes you may get double predation. A hawk will kill a chicken and eat part of it while a fox comes along and either carries the remains away or eats on site.
We know that happened once. A hawk picked up and carried a small bantam hen and dropped her out back, partially ate her then a fox came along

 

[Mak24456]

I am not sure, I am very sorry for your loss. If you put twine over the top of your run, spaced 1 foot apart, that will eliminate hawks.

Unfortunately the run is the entire yard, so that's not really option. We may get a bigger enclosure for them, not sure yet. Thanks for the kind words.

Of the two choices I'd say hawk. The chicken appears to have been hit from above leaving a pile of feathers. Most foxes would just pick up a chicken and carry it away and you wouldn't see a trace. Our two biggest predators here are foxes and hawks and with foxes they just disappear. The body isn't found. Usually a large fowl chicken is too large for a hawk to carry away and they just eat what they can at the site. Sometimes you may get double predation. A hawk will kill a chicken and eat part of it while a fox comes along and either carries the remains away or eats on site.
We know that happened once. A hawk picked up and carried a small bantam hen and dropped her out back, partially ate her then a fox came along

Thank you for the insight. Hopefully we can use this information to better protect the remaining two.

 

[Minnowey]

I would say hawk. Foxes and coyotes carry off their prey, and often the feathers aren't near the actual attack site. It is differ with hawks.

 

[BYCforlife]

Put a stone/plastic owl facing the chickens. Make sure it is in sight of the chickens so when the hawk comes he sees it. This worked for my friend.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Today I got home this afternoon and was informed by my neighbor (also a chicken person) that Red, one of our 3 suburban backyard hens, had been killed. They are a small flock and are our pets, so in between tears I ask for someone to help identify what happened to to her.








As you can see, her back has been plucked and there is a single deep puncture connected to the gash, and a less serious scratch below those. There are a couple small piles of feathers outside where it happened, I assume. Her neck is intact.

The neighbors said it happened at around 8 am. It is already light out by then. They heard a huge amount of crows and their dog barking, so they went out to check on their own chickens and saw ours instead. The predator was already gone. They think it was a fox because of their dog's reaction and the fact they had seen a fox yesterday. I'm leaning more toward hawk because of the time and the crows. Can someone ID the wound or give some insight? It'd be much appreciated.


Little story of our flock:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-case-of-the-missing-eggs
She wasn't even a year old but I think she had a good life.


Do you think we should keep the remaining two locked up for now? I really don't want this to happen again, but I feel it's unfair to them since the coop run is very small compared to the yard that they're used to.

The "large" amount of crows raising cane is a sure sign of hawks. Also hawks don't have jaws and teeth with witch to gnaw, chew, rip, and tear off large amounts of flesh, crack bones, and dismember their victims, a hawk tends to eat chickens like a 5 year old eats spaghetti, one noodle at a time.