Last week I posted a question about a predator taking the head and neck 
off a chicken and leaving the rest.  

I forwarded my email to Judy Wink, head of the Chesapeake Bay 
Environmental Center.  Judy is one of the foremost experts on Great Horned 
Owls in the U.S.  This is her response:
      BEGIN  QUOTE:  

          Definitely a Great Horned Owl.  Right now owls are feeding 
young, and a good possibility it took chicken parts to a nest. This time 
of the year owls are working around the clock to feed young. If you don't 
see feathers scattered in a 10-15' swathe (ground predator) then it was an 
owl.

            My dad raises exotic birds and has a few pairs of mallards, 
and I have seen a GHO kill six mallards and rip the head off of all, and 
then over the next day came and took two of the mallard remains. 

END QUOTE

One point that I had not mentioned in my email was the fact of no 
scattered feathers around the dead chicken.  When Judy mentioned this 
characteristic of an owl kill, it really confirmed the verdict.

Leaving any dead chicken in the yard to see if the owl returns is not a 
good option.  The other chickens are not particular what they eat and a 
fellow dead chicken to them is just another meal.
Jim Wilson
Queenstown