[Mrs Mant]

Is it possible that a fox could take a chicken without leaving any blood/mess behind?
I let my chickens free run and arrived home last Thursday when it was dark.  I went to shut the coop up and only 1 chicken was perched (I had 3).  I looked around the garden with a flash light and found 1 chicken cowering in the hedge quite close to the back door.  The other mising chicken was no where to be found.  There were quite a few feathers in the field next to the house, but they are all moulting at the moment and it's difficult to tell which one they had come from.  My only other thought (because of the lack of carnage) was a bird of prey had had a lucky hit.  Any ideas?

[hillfooter]

Almost certainly a fox.  Absence of blood or even many feathers isn't telling evidence against a fox.  An experienced fox can take a chicken with scarcely leaving a feather.  Younger less experienced foxes tend to leave a mess and they usually take them to their cubs before plucking them.  In the open they often just take a single bird it's only when they get into a run and the chx are easy to kill do they kill indiscriminately.
HF

HF

[Flowerpower136]

Does sound like a fox.  So sorry Mrs Mant.

Had a bird of prey swoop at our run whilst I was sitting in a few months ago.  Think it was after one of the baby squirrels who were sunbathing on the roof at the time.

Chooks reaction was amazing !  I was sat surrounded with contented rosey chooks, then within a split second, I was sat there completely on my own!  The thing had swooped and was off into the distance by the time I saw it, but they saw it coming and dived for cover under the coop.