[GRAPHIC PICS]What might have caused this? Do I need to cull them? First aid?[GRAPHIC PICS]

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Billiam

Billiam

Songster
8 Years
Nov 8, 2011
276
98
113
Gilbert, AZ
My Coop
My Coop
Hello,

Came home and found a backyard full of feathers and four of the hens with feathers ripped out of the backs. We have a small dog that has done this before but only to one bird and much worse and he doesn't leave the feathers around. There are no big birds around and it just doesn't seem like a coyote or other big predator would just rip feathers out and not just eat them. They are all eating and drinking fine. Walking seems to be fine. What should I do? Cull? Clean up/bandage? Thanks in advance.

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wow billiam, i dont know what to say about this one. they look plucked thats for sure, could they have done that to each other?? i'm curious to see what other people think...
 
Thanks nurse_turtle, I wasn't sure what to use.

notinoz2007, that is one of my thoughts too, but I wasn't sure if they could cause that kind of damage to each other.
 
I haven't heard of Blu-Kote, but a spray on may be better than my recommendation. I was going to recommend putting some Nu-Stock on it. Personally, they don't look like they are in serious pain, so I would not cull them. Depending on your thoughts, although it isn't terribly severe, one that survives that is more likely to survive other harsh conditions.

Umm, not entirely sure what would do that, but a feral cat or a small coyote come to mind. I can't put my finger on why, though. That's just my gut feeling. I'm leaning more towards a small yote. Definitely not a air predator like a hawk, though. The dig their claws in deep, so the damage would appear much more severe.
 
You say small predator and that sounds likely. I haven't ruled out our dog yet. He is very timid and acting guilty. He just doesn't have the blood all over his face like the last time, which was only just less than two weeks ago.
 
I would put money on your dog
sad.png
A predator that hunts to survive wouldn't waste energy chasing the birds, it would kill and eat one, then try for another. The hawks and coyotes around here leave only a few feathers as evidence not bald chickens.... a pet that doesn't really know what it is doing would get excited and confused and chase too many chickens at one time. Your dog will figure it out and start doing a better job at killing if you don't put a stop to it very soon.
 
I agree with the general consensus. Time to pen the dog or find a new home for it. I had that problem once and never trusted that dog after he killed the main rooster. He want to be pampered anyway so I took him to a new home.
 
My 2 cents is maybe the dog started it and the other hens jumped in. Once they see blood curiosity kicks in and they pick non stop. Blue Kote worked pretty good when our little ones did that.
 

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