So, I found this when I went to check on the chickens. Doesn't look good.

But how could a predator have gotten in? The chicken wagon is surrounded by electric fencing 42" high, and the fence was entirely intact and live.

Our first thought was that it was an air attack -- probably a hawk. But, it seems to me that a hawk would swoop and grab rather than leave behind such a mess of feathers.

Tonight, as we moved the fencing (which we've been doing every 3-4 days), we noticed a giant hole in the ground. At first I thought it was a hole the chickens had dug for their dust baths, only it wasn't shallow. It was definitely a burrow. And we had fenced it in.

Had the chickens been living WITH a predator for 4 days . . . that we had fenced in?

How many chickens might it have gotten? (No, we don't count our chickens everyday. Have you ever tried to count a flock of 100 active free-range chickens?)

Since the farm is new to us, we're not familiar with where these types of holes are. Plus, we've been moving the fencing in the dark (so that the chickens are inside the wagon when we move it), which makes it tough to get a good look at the new patch of ground we're fencing in.

It's possible, of course, that the burrow is old and unoccupied and that the chicken was harmed by something else. What other possible predators could we be facing here?