Posted: 10/19/2009 8:59:22 PM EDT
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So I came home from work and found one of my hens dead in the chicken run. All the feathers were missing from it's body, just a few on it head,and wings. Also I did not see any bit marks it's body. When I went out there one of the other chickens was pecking at its butt. I could not find anywhere around the chicken run where something dug under it (I have a small hen house inside a 6'x10' chain link dog run with a fabric top to it). My cousin says it may have been a snake, and that the other hens packed at it after they smelled blood. I live in the city (half acre lots, high desert area), and I have never seen a fox/coon/possum/etc here. We do have a crap load of snakes though. Also there were eggs in the nesting box, so if it was a snake, it didn't eat the eggs. Any other ideas? |
| Chickens are cannibals.....whenever a certain chicken has any peculiarity,( limping, missing feathers, something sticky stuck to their back, etc.) they suddenly remember (blood tastes good) and gang peck it. End result is like you describe. There is no certain cure when the flock is confined. It is a symptom of over-crowding (stir-crazy). The one thing that minimizes cannibal tendencies is generous (24/7) supplying of cracked oyster shell. |
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Quoted: Chickens are cannibals.....whenever a certain chicken has any peculiarity,( limping, missing feathers, something sticky stuck to their back, etc.) they suddenly remember (blood tastes good) and gang peck it. End result is like you describe. There is no certain cure when the flock is confined. It is a symptom of over-crowding (stir-crazy). The one thing that minimizes cannibal tendencies is generous (24/7) supplying of cracked oyster shell. I had 5 hens (now I have 4) in the 6'x10' run, and a 4'x4' hen house, that they are free to come and go out of, is it to small? I also have oyster shells mixed into there food (1/3 oyster shells - 1/3 scratch - 1/3 egg laying mesh) in a self feeder, so they always have food. |
). I always piled oyster shell separate in corners, so I could notice it was low-
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Quoted: Quoted: You sure that you have seen her every day? I was wondering that too.......one of our hens gets feather plucked all the time. (Not bare, though.) She's the low hen in the flock. She was fine when I went to lock up the dog run on Sunday night. Monday afternoon around 5pm is when I found the featherless carcuss. I really have no idea what happened, these are the 1st chickens I have ever had. It was a rhode island red (each hen I have is a different bread if it matters?). I am feeding it a mixture of oyster shells I bought at the feed store, and walmart brand scratch and egg mesh. It is all mixed together in a home made auto feeder. |
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Quoted: I am feeding it a mixture of oyster shells I bought at the feed store, and walmart brand scratch and egg mesh. It is all mixed together in a home made auto feeder. What the heck is "egg mesh"? Sometimes if one chicken is defective in some way (and it's not always something obvious to humans) the flock will cull the defective bird. It could've been overcrowding, but in any case you've got the textbook 4 square feet of coop space per bird now. |
| I raise chickens too, and my guess would be that the naked bird either died and was stripped or was weakened and was attacked by the other birds. Chickens are like little velociraptors, and if they think they can take it they will attack anything that they think tastes like chicken, and obviously a sick or dead chicken meets this criteria. If you don't believe me, toss a tarantula into the coop and watch the fun!!! I'm just glad they aren't 5ft tall and weigh 150lbs, or we'd ALL be in trouble!! Chickens is MEAN if they think you are food!! |
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I raise chickens too, and my guess would be that the naked bird either died and was stripped or was weakened and was attacked by the other birds. Chickens are like little velociraptors, and if they think they can take it they will attack anything that they think tastes like chicken, and obviously a sick or dead chicken meets this criteria. If you don't believe me, toss a tarantula into the coop and watch the fun!!! I'm just glad they aren't 5ft tall and weigh 150lbs, or we'd ALL be in trouble!! Chickens is MEAN if they think you are food!! Great. Now I'm going to have a nightmare about a 5ft tall 150lb chicken chasing me. |
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Well thanks to the 3 or 4 with serious answers. When did the SF become GD? I was cruising newest topics when I found this thread. I didn't realize when I posted it wasn't in GD.....my bad 
Steve Don't apologize, it shows weakness. Mods can smell it and you don't want that. Seriously. 
TRG |