2 dead in coop, seemingly no injury or entry.

[Rachael<3Chickies]

It seems lile the ones with no visible injuries would have been a mess if it were a rooster that killed them. Not trying to be gross but i know someone whose rooster took the back of a hen's head down to the skull. I thought she should be put down but she healed up like nothing happened. It's really hard to find something to explain the injuries outside of the coop AND the two dead birds inside.

I hope it's not the roo. Thanks for the input. I would have to guess a weasel got them and my friend did not locate the hole. I will check it out when I go down there. The other incidents may be unrelated to the inside coop one.

 

[drumstick diva]

Could she stash the rooster someplace so he won't be with the hens at all- day or night.
Maybe for 2-3 days, just to see if anything attacks the hens while the rooster can't be with them. If something does get to them, it would indicate the rooster is innocent.

 

[AllenK RGV]

They were outside but the injured one had went back to the coop.

We do not currently own a camera, but it is happening likely out in a field during the day.

No not a good story I agree. Very upsetting.

I'm just curious where in the world do you live? not a street address just a general geographic location.

 

[Rachael<3Chickies]

I'm just curious where in the world do you live? not a street address just a general geographic location.

KY, USA
Do I want to ask why? Lol

 

[lazy gardener]

Often general location will give a lot of detail that can be helpful in giving appropriate information. If you watch a lot of posts, you'll find that many of us, but not all DO have our general location in our profile, and it shows up on every post. VERY helpful information.

Does your friend provide supplemental heat? Has she recently changed her bedding material? What is she using for bedding. What are the dimensions of her coop?

 

[Rachael<3Chickies]

Often general location will give a lot of detail that can be helpful in giving appropriate information. If you watch a lot of posts, you'll find that many of us, but not all DO have our general location in our profile, and it shows up on every post. VERY helpful information.

Does your friend provide supplemental heat? Has she recently changed her bedding material? What is she using for bedding. What are the dimensions of her coop?

Oh. I didn't notice that.

No heat. Still pine shavings. Tiny coop, guessing 4'x2' being used as she is building permanent one. Small attached run, they are mostly not in it. All was well until the head hen disappeared. Never found her. Two in coop update: I located a seperation of wire from wood on the cheap coop on the run area. No sign of marks or digging, small opening potential if pushed, but possible entry for small weasel maybe 3/4 inch. She will not use a door on the coop so if anything gets into run... I'm thinking scalping happened bc of new hens, just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something here especially with the scalping- I've never seen that before. Now that she removed the smallest one, everyone has been okay for a few days. I'm assuming she repaired the wire but will check next time.

 

[lazy gardener]

Her set up is appropriate for 2 birds at the very most, and to be honest, I'd not consider using such a tiny space for ANY chicken(S). Chicken social structure can be brutal. And when a high rung lady/guy tells a lower rung lady to get out of his/her space, what the bird is really saying is this: "Get out of my space, (which is usually at least a 5' radius) or I'm gonna rip your face off." So, in a tiny coop, even if the underling does try to comply, she can't go far enough away to satisfy the social protocol. So, the top dog proceeds to mete out the discipline, and she/he is usually assisted by the rest of the flock.

 

[Rachael<3Chickies]

Her set up is appropriate for 2 birds at the very most, and to be honest, I'd not consider using such a tiny space for ANY chicken(S). Chicken social structure can be brutal. And when a high rung lady/guy tells a lower rung lady to get out of his/her space, what the bird is really saying is this: "Get out of my space, (which is usually at least a 5' radius) or I'm gonna rip your face off." So, in a tiny coop, even if the underling does try to comply, she can't go far enough away to satisfy the social protocol. So, the top dog proceeds to mete out the discipline, and she/he is usually assisted by the rest of the flock.

I completely agree with you. I hope she gets her other coop done soon and will try to kindly let her know. I have a similar coop as well but only as a first stage of introductions.

 

[rebrascora]

I was thinking weasel too. However, she went to get more and put them together and they seemed to get along but the next day (today), one is missing (the smallest) and another (the next smallest) has been "scalped" and brought in for recovery.

Are you saying she went and got some new chickens and put them in with the others without any introduction, like a "see but not touch" cage for a week or two. In a coop that small(4x2), it sounds like she has too many birds already which may be why one was roosting on top and if new birds are introduced suddenly you will almost certainly have problems loke bloody combs and possible scalping and a strange chicken would quite possibly be run out of the flock and get lost. I appreciate that this will not have been the initial cause of the problems but the lost bird was probably down to a predator and the two dead could be disease or illness. There are some diseases like Marek's where stress can trigger an outbreak. Burds can die suddenly from it or may present as lame etc. How old is the rooster? If he is a young male getting his first flush of hormones, he will be trying to mate those girls non stop. Scalping is not uncommon by adolescent cockerels, particularly if the females are young pullets that don't know what to do as their instinct is to run away when the cockerel grabs them.
Does she have a run for her chickens or just this small coop where they are locked up at night and then free range during the day?

 

[Rachael<3Chickies]

Are you saying she went and got some new chickens and put them in with the others without any introduction, like a "see but not touch" cage for a week or two. In a coop that small(4x2), it sounds like she has too many birds already which may be why one was roosting on top and if new birds are introduced suddenly you will almost certainly have problems loke bloody combs and possible scalping and a strange chicken would quite possibly be run out of the flock and get lost. I appreciate that this will not have been the initial cause of the problems but the lost bird was probably down to a predator and the two dead could be disease or illness. There are some diseases like Marek's where stress can trigger an outbreak. Burds can die suddenly from it or may present as lame etc. How old is the rooster? If he is a young male getting his first flush of hormones, he will be trying to mate those girls non stop. Scalping is not uncommon by adolescent cockerels, particularly if the females are young pullets that don't know what to do as their instinct is to run away when the cockerel grabs them.
Does she have a run for her chickens or just this small coop where they are locked up at night and then free range during the day?

Yes that is correct- she went and got them and just let her go with two hens and a rooster. The coop/run combo is night and I do believes rarely during the day but mostly free range. The roo was born last May. He is a black sex link. I'd like to say he is really a sweet boy but I can't. He's always been kind of a little jerk.