Chicken found dead with a single puncture to the chest.

[sourland]

Have you had any problems with neighbors ? Most mammalian predators go for the neck or head. Raptors attack from above and injuries/punctures tend to be on upper portion of body. Were the other birds acting spooked. If a predator caused the death, they should have been scared.

 

[Blueskeyes]

Her body looked completely fine other than that one puncture. She was laying in the dirt where she likes to take dust baths.

 

[sourland]

I guess what I was getting at is do you think there is any possibility that someone might have shot her ?

 

[Blueskeyes]

I don't think so. There was no blood. It's very strange.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you still have her body where you could do a necropsy and explore the wound? You could keep the body cold until you could do that. Chickens don’t always have a lot of blood from wounds.

 

[kiwi-chick]

my first instinct at your post is that she was shot - possibly with a air rifle or a BB gun

 

[Fluffyflufffluff]

We are so distraught! We just found our almost 1 year old Barred Rock dead with no sign of anything wrong except for a small matted area in her chest feathers with a small puncture wound a little smaller than a pencil eraser. We have no idea what could have happened but we have 2 others and we want to keep them safe. Has anyone had a similar experience?

Sorry about your chicken. I am really wondering as well. I hope you can find out what is caused that killing.

 

[BloomBunny]

Sorry for your loss.
If it happens again, check for a BB or pellet.

 

[Blueskeyes]

Oh no! I hope it wasn't a BB gun. My husband just told me the neighbor boy just got a BB gun. I can't imagine he would do anything like that on purpose though. I really hope not!

 

[pasdechat73]

Oh no! I hope it wasn't a BB gun. My husband just told me the neighbor boy just got a BB gun. I can't imagine he would do anything like that on purpose though. I really hope not!

Oh dear. It might have been that. One of our neighbour kids' shot another neighours window out with a BB. Of course not on purpose, but carelessness. I would speak with the parents. Especially if he isn't skilled at shooting. My daughter has a BB and it can put a good dent in some surprisingly strong material.