blood spatter bowl

[goldlace]

i have 6 chickens in coop/run with some free ranging abilities. had them 2 years now. sometimes, run/coop door open to allow them go get out and about. aside from 1 racoon in 7 years, and owls-which have no room for wing span, and ladies in coop at night - we have never had a problem w/predation. last night, i went out at dark to pick up one of the feeding bowls and collected eggs. came inside and took eggs out of said bowl, and noticed fresh blood on one of the eggs. don't think it was blood out of the butt - because when i looked at the bowl, there was a blood spatter pattern around the entire bowl - kind of a dexter thing. upon checking the next day. all ladies present and accounted for and none seem to have any injuries. my question is this: is it possible, that earlier in the day, if a small mouse/rat was grazing in the bowl, could/would my ladies peck said rodent to death and eat it? the only other explanation is the one of my ratter cats, who never mess with the ladies, were out there and did a kill on said rodent. someone who used to have chickens suggested avian flu and chicken sneezed blood. my ladies are very healthy, so i don't think this flu thing makes sense, and i don't even know if chickens sneeze. i have read about chickens attacking frogs, snakes, etc. any input?

 

[Tala]

hmmm is it possible that one of your girls got "upset" with another one for taking her time in the nest box, and then a small pecking injury on the head/comb usually leads to some head shaking - splattering some blood around before it clots/scabs over. I'm not really understanding where the blood was? In the nest and on eggs? Or in a separate place?
but also the rat/mouse theory sounds plausible to me.

 

[goldlace]

yes, i do have a broody, but the blood spatter was in the bowl i take out and put in run w/scraps and scratch. i only saw it w/in the bowl. will you confirm that chickens will attack a small mouse/rat in a bowl? i work w/someone who used to have chickens and he says if they saw a rodent in said bowl, they wouldn't defend the bowl/food and just run. he says, kim, that's why they call them chickens.

 

[Tala]

They don't "defend" their food. They eat anything they can catch! I've seen my rooster with a small mouse, and two of my hens slurped down baby snakes like spaghetti noodles last spring. Others can confirm as well.

 

[goldlace]

so it is reasonable that my 6 ladies could have pecked to death and eaten said rodent? i am still leaning toward my mouser. ladies look fine. however, would you recommend checking rears and vents? could that be source of blood? i wouldn't think so because none of the ladies would sit on the bowl and bleed. do chickens sneeze, do you think? the bloody avian flu sneeze doesn't seem quite plausible to me

 

[goldlace]

by the way, pretty dog. we have chessies.

 

[Tala]

Naaa I've found little flecks of blood in the nest box before (hen getting her head pecked I'm sure) and once I found mystery blood on the feeder (probably another comb injury) but so long as everyone looks and acts fine I don't freak about it. They probably did find a rodent, and devoured the evidence. Little carnivores they are!