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That makes sense. They definitely did seem unsettled, like something had happened, and they were clustered on the opposite side of the yard, so whatever happened was definitely noticed by them. In your edit, you were saying that you wouldn't have noticed that one attack if you hadn't seen, and...

Thank you for the sympathy. It certainly could have been. There are a lot of turkey vultures here, and they definitely descend fast when they are aware of something in the area. The only thing that doesn't make sense with that theory is that (so I was told, anyway) it looked like there was a...

Could her comb being purple be from the attack itself, or would that always indicate another issue? It seems that Google either can't tell me the answer to that, or I'm not using the correct search terms.

As far as hawks causing a ruckus, I had one sitting on the fence maybe 12 feet from one of my birds. Said chicken didn't even notice and just kept walking along like there was nothing there... Some of mine need more situational awareness, apparently.

Thank you for your condolences. I think the not knowing is the part that bothers me the most. I have a fenced yard. The chickens have their own fenced yard within that, so they can either be confined there if needed or have the space to range in most of the yard. They have a fully enclosed...

That was my thought as well. Would you think, based on your experience, that she died of heart attack or poor circulation before being disemboweled, or that it was being disemboweled that killed her in this case? I opened the run before I left for work in the morning, so she could have...

Thanks for the input! It was only this one bird that I lost, and I haven't seen anything since. I did keep them locked in all day for about a week, but I wouldn't think that would be enough for something to move on. The birds are in an enclosed yard, which is (unfortunately) right next to a...

I think the part of this that is most confusing is the fact that there seems to be no obvious sign of struggle. I'm not sure if the purple comb is a clue or not. She could have easily had an issue that happened quickly, like another hen of mine did. I really don't know, though.

Honestly, this was my second thought after it being a mink (or an opossum). Either she could have been weak, or she was already dead, because there is absolutely no obvious sign that she tried to fight. She was just laying there, in the same way that other birds have when they passed from...

It could have been. Maybe not a black vulture, but we have turkey vultures here. I would think my dog would have made a commotion about a vulture landing right next to the fence. 🤔 Maybe not, though, or it could have happened shortly after he went inside.

My first thought was mink as well. I don’t know though, because mink kills are supposed to be awful in terms of damage and number killed. I would have expected at least some blood if a mink was trying to subdue her, or more killed at once, or something. I also don't see a ton of teeth marks...

I am back here again because this mystery is still incredibly frustrating to me. I've been trying to figure out what it could have been still, and while looking at the photo, it almost seems like her comb had gone a bit purple. Could an attack have caused that to happen, or would it indicate...

Thank you. I'm going to assume that she likely did pass away first, since she did seem like she was developing some health issues. She was not a skittish bird and I do believe that she would have fought back if she was able to. I think that some sort of damage would be evident in that case, and...

After inspecting the area again, I can only come to the conclusion that the hawk could have found her already dead. I found a few more feathers that were on the ground slightly underneath the willow nearby, but it could have easily been feathers from molting because the chickens do spend a lot...

That would make sense. I did read something at one point about hawks removing intestines, but then every other source says they go for the upper body first so I wasn't sure if that was a typical thing or not. I don't recall it being particularly windy, but anything is possible. I'm going to go...

Would a hawk always attempt to carry a bird away? It didn't really look like she was moved much, from what I could see at least (only a few scattered feathers - some obviously from her because they were right next to her, but the ones further away were not clearly from her and could have easily...

I'm not sure if her neck was broken or not. I didn't really get a chance to inspect her since I was at work when this happened. In the picture, it looks curled back and stiff. She had puncture marks on her neck, and a little tiny bit of blood on her back, but nothing elsewhere. I would have...

Still trying to figure out what could have done this. All the sources I've seen say that weasel or mink kills are much messier than this. Hawk is a likely possibility at this point. I didn't think they usually started with the stomach and I also thought there would be more feathers in the area...

There really isn't a ton of blood, either, which I thought was weird if something tried to eat her shortly after she was killed. Could this indicate that something came along after she was killed? I have no experience with predators, so I really don't know what is typical and what isn't.

I have a picture of her here, if that helps.