Another One Bites The Dust

Before I went to bed last night I took a long look at my two chickens in their run.  I had thrown them a few black sunflower seeds and they were searching through the grass looking for a snack.  I thought how pretty the buff orpingtons looked with their full feathers and tufted lower legs.  I woke up to a noise about midnight.  I thought it sounded like a feral cat outside my window.  I hear them at night sometimes.  This cat was howling long and loud.  The moon was quite bright so I got up to take a couple tylenol.  I told the cat to be quiet and I went back to sleep.  This morning when I looked at the chicken coop I could see the water dish was turned over, one chicken was strutting around and there was something else inside the coop.  I walked there with fresh water before I went to work and found, to my horror, one live chicken and the carcass of one chicken who had been pretty much completely consumed sometime during the night.  Some animal had jiggled the chicken run enough that part of the top dropped down inside.  The animal went inside the coop, killed one chicken while it slept, and dragged the carcass out to the far end of the run where it ate it.  A blood trail led from the coop, across the grass, to the body.  Very little of the 8 pound chicken remained.  I saw feathers and a beak but not much else.  I couldn't leave my live chicken in the run with the carcass so I picked it up and tossed it away a few feet.  My chicken was murdered.  I didn't hear a peep from the chickens last night so I hope it died quickly before it completely came awake.  I don't know who did it.  I would think the fox would take the chicken and run; not eat it right there.  I guess it could have been a feral cat who did this but I've seen the feral cats and the chickens interact before without conflict.  If a feral cat killed the chicken, why would it howl?  This is the first time an animal broke into the chicken run from the top.  Years of moving the run to a fresh spot of earth has loosened the screws and made it somewhat rickety.  I am bummed to loose 50% of my chicken herd.  I feel bad for the lone chicken.  It could be a long, cold winter ahead for her. Such is the circle of life.  Owning chickens can bring drama to your life and it's all to be expected.  I started with 6 and now there is only 1 left. Since all the buff orpingtons looked alike I haven't been able to name them.  Now that there is only one left I can name her.  Robinson Crusoe seems appropriate.