Not deliberately, of course. Either hawks or coyotes (not sure; we're in the process of setting up cameras) have taken several of our flock. We're still figuring out what to do about it.
We've tried the broomstick method but it's hard. What works best for us is to take a traffic cone, cut off the top of it, mount it upside down, stuff the chicken in it so their head is poking out the bottom, and slit their throat with a very sharp knife. It's gruesome and if your family is squeamish it won't go well. But they go quick and drain out, so cleaning is easier.
The only predator incident we've had was the fox. We'd never even seen a fox around here before. Coyotes, yes. Foxes never. Broad daylight, while we were eating dinner, came out and found feathers everywhere. We had gotten lazy since we got the rooster, never had the roll out fencing electrified. My wife still hasn't forgiven herself.
Sorry to hear about your dude. I wish our roosters were that motivated. Even trimming his crest, our polish is practically blind so he's constantly being surprised by everything. He's useless for protection and frequently goes after our toddler. Our two silkie roosters are/were pretty timid, which is good and bad. Unfortunately our favorite (by appearance and temperment) was taken recently.
We didn't pick the roosters, we just ended up with the 3 because some of the chicks were unsexed. A well-tempered bantam would be nice.
We could fence them into a smaller area... but we like letting them roam around the property. Tough choices.
Yeah we got our rooster from a gentleman who got him from a fancy poultry breeder here in Ontario. ("Precision Plymouths"). He was a show quality bird and absolutely stunningly beautiful, but also the guy had done some "training" work with him. He was very timid with people, and not aggressive at all. And he had come from a farm where he was just one of a few roosters and just seemed pleased as punch to have a few ladies of his own without any competition :-)
Not deliberately, of course. Either hawks or coyotes (not sure; we're in the process of setting up cameras) have taken several of our flock. We're still figuring out what to do about it.
We've tried the broomstick method but it's hard. What works best for us is to take a traffic cone, cut off the top of it, mount it upside down, stuff the chicken in it so their head is poking out the bottom, and slit their throat with a very sharp knife. It's gruesome and if your family is squeamish it won't go well. But they go quick and drain out, so cleaning is easier.