Sorry but this is what happens to range free chiockens.i had quite a few loses over the yeatrs from owls,weasel,hawks,foxes,dogs so much that we built a nice run, they stay in there.an owls eat the heads let rest lay.

One "predator" to keep in mind is the other chickens. They occasionally gang up on a member of the flock and peck them to death.

Foxes and coyotes would have hauled the bird away or eaten a lot more of it. Same for hawks and owls. A feral cat would have eaten more of it.

So we're left with the "non-predators", the chickens.

Racoons often do just what you described. I had one earlier this year get through a hole in my exercise run, and it just slaughtered and mutilated several hens and left them. I wouldn't have resented the deaths so much if they had been eaten.

I'd say it's *not* your other chickens. If the head was still intact, it sounds like you have a weasel or it's close relative, a skunk. They love chicken necks.

If it had been one of the other chickens, they would have zeroed in on one spot, either the vent and pecked away until the guts fell out, or at the back of the head and again, and kept at it until the bird was scalped. But since your birds are loose on a large area, even the lowest bird in the pecking order would have been able to escape it's tormentors. Instead of a pile of feathers in one place (where it was attacked & killed), and and a dead bird in another where it was drug and eaten, you would have found a live bird, possibly bloodied and trying to hide up under something. Most likely though, you wouldn't have known anything was wrong, because the bird would have run far enough away that it escaped serious injury until the rest of the flock lost interest.

Raccoon don't often hunt out in open; instead, they'll break into your chicken coop at night and go into a frenzy, killing as many birds as they can, and eating almost none of them.

I'm sorry, but racoons will hunt in the open. I lost one hen this year outside, and a hen last year who was free ranging and didn't get put in early enough, and one year a pen of chicks.

I appreciate all the replies. This has been very helpful. Part of me wishes it wasn't an outside animal, meaning our predator worries were still low, but part of me is glad the likelihood that it was another chicken is low, meaning I don't have to worry as much about them killing each other. I'm grateful we only lost one.

Oh no, I didn't say Raccoons never hunt in the open, only that they don't do it often.

That's partly because prefer the safety of forest to open fields, but mostly because they're nocturnal. If a Raccoon is sleeping in a tree in the middle of a field and a chicken wanders along underneath, scratching and pecking and generally being as unaware as only a domestic chicken can be, I wouldn't put it past it to climb down far enough to jump the bird and have a quick snack. But for the most part, a Raccoon will wait until it's late and the birds are roosting, and then do their dirty work under cover of darkness.

Usually, if you're seeing a raccoon in broad day, right out in the open, it's either been conditioned to be around people (because someone has been feeding it), or it's in the early stages of something like distemper or rabies.

Coyotes are a different matter; they'll cheerfully stalk poultry and young livestock in broad daylight. They rely on their dead grass colored camouflage, their stalking ability, and if all else fails, their speed to catch something and get away with it.

Anyway, I hope you don't loose anymore. Are your dogs trustworthy with the chickens? If they are, you can always let them out loose; they might not be guarding the chickens specifically, but they can help keep away predators from the area.

One dog is trustworthy with the chickens, the other is not and stays tied up inside. When she is outside on a leash she has a muzzle on. I hate having her so restrained when she used to run free all day, but she did eat 3 chicks. She has completely understood what she did wrong and will turn away from the chickens when they come near now, never chases them or won't go near the coop now, but I still don't trust her when my back is turned. Since we were gone from home both dogs were locked inside the house. The untrustworthy one is a German Shepherd and she is an extremely effective thief deterrent in the house while we are gone!

When we are home and the other dog is running around, as are the children often, I'm sure that helps keep predators away, especially since the chickens don't go deep into the woods. Since the attack we are keeping them in the coop run when we leave the house. The coop run is, however, roughly 12-15 sq ft, so it's not so roomy for 6 chickens.

I wouldn't want to leave our trustworthy dog out while we are gone for fear that she would go a-wandering when left by herself. The German Shepherd should stay in the house not just because she eats chickens, but to guard all the entryways, so the other would be out alone for many hours. She might visit our neighbors cows or dog kennel, and even though are neighbors are great, I'm sure they don't want a bored dog disturbing their grounds!

We do have coyotes, though I have never seen one. Two years ago our neighbor woke up to see one lone coyote on her front lawn. The thing I see most is wild turkeys, so that's something to be grateful for! Hopefully there are enough wild turkeys to keep the coyotes stuffed.