half killed chicken, daylight, FEATHERS EVERYWHERE?!?! who is the murderer??

[mrcaniplaywithmadness 6]

How old was the chicken?

not old mate :S

Sparrowhawk then.............

ya know what we got buzzards here, badgers, foxes, rats, weasles, kestrels and barn owls and a whole lotta rooks and mags

but i never seen no sparrahawk :/

Could just be a buzzard then. Maybe its a young one. If i have ever found or heard of any birds(usually pigeons) half eaten and still alive its usually a sparrow hawk involved. Keep your eyes peeled, to be fair there are lots of them but there not a bird you see often..... Is there more chickens running around?

well we had 3 hens an 1 useless cockrell. but now only 2 but there not running around the garden like we used to let em, the run round in the pen. and i dont no if this is normal, but since tuther chickens death nun of em have layed a proper egg in ages??

Oh there laying, then its not a sparrowhawk, when you said not old i was thinking more weeks than months. Probably been put of right enough............a mystery!!!!

ahh right not that young mate this is fully grown hen. i thought you ment like is she old old haha easy mixup

ahh well if ee not a bird il put a trap or 2 down

[Millet 4,497]

I'm swayed into thinking it could be a bird of prey around the size of a buzzard or goshawk and the hawk must of been disturbed while trying to pluck your chicken to death..if it was a mink/stoat or anything else with teeth i'm sure the chicken would of been killed pretty quick...and not left with the kind of wound's you describe.

[mrcaniplaywithmadness 6]

I'm swayed into thinking it could be a bird of prey around the size of a buzzard or goshawk and the hawk must of been disturbed while trying to pluck your chicken to death..if it was a mink/stoat or anything else with teeth i'm sure the chicken would of been killed pretty quick...and not left with the kind of wound's you describe.

fair point mate cheers

[Sexy_Shot 5]

Sounds like a Bop! probably a Sparrowhawk or a buzzard

[shootingmadgeorge 6]

How old was the chicken?

not old mate :S

Sparrowhawk then.............

ya know what we got buzzards here, badgers, foxes, rats, weasles, kestrels and barn owls and a whole lotta rooks and mags

but i never seen no sparrahawk :/

i seen loads of sparrowhawks around ur place

[bouncer 51]

gosshawk was doing the same to mine when i had chickens.

[mackay 3,400]

. Edited February 23, 2012 by mackay

[cammy12 176]

domestic cat can play with prey and not kill it

[shootingmadgeorge 6]

could it be an otter. have had problems with them getting in the pen and killing ex layers.

[j316 119]

near a river might be a mink

[ftm 3,357]

well i was suspended from the forum for airing my views on this subject ok so i might havebeen a bit silly stating the obvious way to sort out the problem so i apologise if i upset any one i dont normally read this dept so i think i will keep off and leave it to the experts

[patterdale boy 1]

sounds like a goshawk or buzzard to me both are messy killers. more than likely a gos. does it have any marks on the top of its head like it has been scalped? that is a telltale sign of a goshawk aswell

Edited March 1, 2012 by patterdale boy

[killbilly 17]

I'd go with a mink - I've trapped loads of the little feckers in similiar situations(near water bodies). Last year I disturbed one that was finishing off a young duck out the back of my Uncles house. Theres alot more of these around then people think since they are very secretive, small, mostly nocturnal and generally keep to cover.

[patterdale boy 1]

from my experience if it was a mink it would have killed all of them unless it was disturbed. only reason im saying a hawk is because the others were unharmed. but it could well be a mink and you wer just fortunate enough to disturb it.

[hugo1 31]

it want be a stoat or a wiesel cause thry all ways eat the brains first it probley a bird of prey