I lost 3 chickens in the early morning hours today, just after daybreak. Their fenced in area is about 200'x300' and the fence is 5' tall. All 3 chickens were initially attached within the fenced in area and then drug out of the fenced in area back into my woods. I found one of the chickens, a barred rock, approximately 100 yards from the chicken run. It was pushed into the side of a log and then covered with sticks and grass. The chicken was missing it's head / crop and it's guts.

My initial thought is raccoons? I have literally every predator that exists in Michigan living in my woods......fox, coyote, weasel, mink, skunk, raccoon, possum, owls, hawks, feral cats, and dogs all roam through my woods daily and nightly. Anyone want to take a stab at what killed them?

I moved 1 of my trail cams to the pen to hopefully capture something...but I'm still going to be waging war on some trash pandas tonight. I have dozens of them in my woods. My trail cams capture groups of 6-8 running around after dark

Being covered makes me think bobcat but it never hurts to kill the corn thiefs. Fox are also known for covering their stash.

Hard to tell,need to catch it red handed,good luck it may take a while

I have a strong feeling it’s a fox. They’re notorious for hiding their food as well as dragging chickens into the wood line. Weasels often leave no survivors.

ETA: Also hard to rule out a dog; however, they often leave injured/dying chickens in my experience. I had my ducks attacked by a dog from two miles away last year. He apparently took most of them in his mouth and shook them until they stopped fighting. I had to put them out since they were passed the point of recovery.

Buried and multiple birds in a single night? Fox.

UPDATE:

I posted the update in GD but forgot to post it here as well -

I put a game cam on the dead chicken to see what came back for it. A big fat raccoon was the first thing that came to it and a few minutes later a mink came in and drug the dead chicken back into the little hole it was originally stuff into.
I'm thinking maybe the coon killed the chicken and the mink found it later

I've lost one bird here to a raccoon this fall so far.  There's two big ones that run around together.

I wish I didn't live in town so I could shoot them when I see them in the mornings.

I’ve been trapping and killing coons for the last few weeks. Another 4-5 and I’ll be satisfied that the population is down to a manageable size.

Dog proof trap and a large stick. You’re welcome.

GET BOTH!

I've used Duke dog-proof raccoon traps with dry cat food bait and been pleased with the results.  I killed them with a couple cheap broadheads since i wasnt sure what the neighbors would think about gun shots and my Form 4s hadn't come back yet.

A black bear keeps feeding on my neighbors chickens. Her SIL had to open the gate, go in and chase the bear out. Brave or dumb, haven't decided yet.

Think you are right.  Sounded like a coon kill.  A mink would have only taken one and it wouldn't have lost it's head.

We have had mink take anywhere from 1 to all birds.  They usually chew on the neck pretty hard and work down from there, usually into the breast.  Heads have been missing before.  Day or night.  They stupidly try to pull the bird back out the hole they came in or try to hide the carcasses.  Usually only try to hide or keep if they don't go on a frenzy.  If they get into a frenzy it looks like a war zone with minimally damaged birds scattered everywhere.

One wiped us out, after struggling to catch the POS confirmed it was a mink via a game camera, caught him and gave him a super sonic sleeping pill.  Got things straightened out and restarted, was wiped out again in two nights.

Covered a coon sized trap with square bales and used sardines for bait... so coon or mink either way you should be able to catch him.  Tied the sardine can lid (peeled back) to the trap so he had to work at it it if he wanted to take it.  Of course he killed every bird we had left BEFORE going into the trap that night...

I saw your update above, but just wanted to add that we once had a fox kill some of our chickens after it managed to get into the henhouse.  I know it was a fox because I caught him a few days later coming back to unbury the chicken he had buried in the shavings in the coop.