Do turkey vultures kill chickens?

I didn't lose any chickens, but I did find a dead turkey vulture in my chicken yard. I think the vulture was looking for the dead raccoon and landed. I have a very aggressive Rhode Island Red rooster and I think he killed the vulture and stomped it flat.

toshabelle said:

I am not sure what you are thinking as turkey vultures, but yes they do take chickens. We have lost 15 young free range hens to these this year already. We have witnessed them take chickens out of the field in the afternoon. They are also increasing in number in our area. Our neighbors down the road have had the same thing happen. In the past, I would not have thought it but now I know they will. I had thought they would only eat dead animals but now know for a fact they will take chickens. So beware of them. They will leave a circle of feathers on the ground where the bird was taken from and that is it. We found one hen that got dropped and it had talon marks on its back and lung area. I'm sure it died quite quickly.

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Not saying you're wrong, but are you sure that they're definitely turkey vultures? I've always known them to be scavengers and we have soooo many around here and I've never seen them eat any meat except roadkill. However as a post above me said, black vultures will occasionally take live prey. Turkey vultures have feet similar to chicken feet as opposed to a bird of prey so they can't really pick up a chicken and carry them away as you've described.

InTheBeginning said:

IF AFTER ALL THIS TIME THEY HAVEN'T KILLED ANY, ONE THING IS CERTAIN, THEY WILL MATE WITH THEM, THAT'S WHY IN SOME PLACE YOU SEE VERY LARGE CHICKENS, THIS SICKENS ME, KNOWING THAT I COULD BE EATING A HALF CHICKEN AND HALF UNCLEAN VULTURE.

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I don't think you need to worry about that bro

toshabelle said:

I am not sure what you are thinking as turkey vultures, but yes they do take chickens. We have lost 15 young free range hens to these this year already. We have witnessed them take chickens out of the field in the afternoon. They are also increasing in number in our area. Our neighbors down the road have had the same thing happen. In the past, I would not have thought it but now I know they will. I had thought they would only eat dead animals but now know for a fact they will take chickens. So beware of them. They will leave a circle of feathers on the ground where the bird was taken from and that is it. We found one hen that got dropped and it had talon marks on its back and lung area. I'm sure it died quite quickly.

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A turkey vulture does not have talons like a hawk or eagle and can not kill or grasp with their feet. They can not carry things away with their feet and fly off with it. They mostly eat dead animals but may possibly kill a small chick or injured or sick chicken but they would use their beak. But if you're seeing birds attack with their feet, talon marks or them flying off with them, it is probably a hawk.

I believe that these birds even though are mostly only scavengers, can and will hunt chickens if given the chance if the chicken isnt to big and healthy. However, they attract hawks, that will go after your chickens. This has happened multiple times already. I used to have 4 free roam chickens untill one of then was taken by something and I only found feathers. After that my heart couldn't take losing another, so I only watch them while they are out. I make sure there are no birds in the sky, and let then eat grass infront of me. But I swear in less then a minute, these Turkey vultures just appear out of absolutely nowhere in large amounts. And then maybe 2 minutes later a hawk will swoop right over my head. Not scared of me at all. This exact scenario has happened multiple times and I'm honestly scared to let my poor babies out at all. Please be careful when letting them free roam! I don't trust those Turkey vultures one bit. They locate prey so a predator can kill it and they can steal the meal.

Turkey vultures will not typically eat live stuff. The other ones will. Ive seen black vultures hang around pigs giving birth, eating them right as they pop out.
If an animal is right on the cusp of death, like death is minutes away, then yah the vulture may start picking on it, but if it's alive and any bit healthy the vultures are not going to mess with it, a very young chicken, like chicken nugget size may be a snack of opportunity but they are not going to run it down to gobble it down.

Yes the vultures may also attract hawks and eagles too, as those hunters ALSO eat dead stuff, and are opportunistic feeders. Vultures can I guess you could say, smell death and congregate around dying stuff, waiting for it to kick it and go in for the meal. The hawk is like, oh look, they found something, let's go see what I can mooch out of there!

Typically the vulture is not going to hang around unless something in the area is dead / dying. If something big like a cow or something died and was buried shallowly, they may hang around for a bit. They will also hang around higher areas to roost. We see them all the time on the high tension wires, they will roost sometimes you'd swear in the 100's on the cross arms on the power towers. This presents a big problem because as they start shitting, it starts splatting on the insulators and building up and soon enough 500 kilovolts will flash to ground on the crap trail and now you have a major power outage.

Turkey vultures for the most are not to be worried about, however if you Do decide to shoo them off, DO KNOW that they can projectile vomit as a means of protection. You know what they eat, use your imagination how that would feel being hit with THAT !

Heres a website that has some additional info on vultures so we can stop the silly rumors here.

https://www.atshq.org/what-do-vultures-eat/

Aaron