Dead Chickens... Untouched!!!

[midwestmilkmaiden]

K..

Found one hen lying in the corner of the pasture.. figured it was the hawk that I had been trying to scare away..
She was fine.. dead.. but nothing really wrong, maybe a few pecks here and there but that could've been from the other chickens..

Then, 2 nights later , I awoke around 4 in the morn to some clucking.. now., my Roo starts to wake us all at around 4:30, so , I thought maybe he was getting a head start, but , when I awoke and went out to water and feed..my poor, poor Pretty Roo was dead, along with his favorite hen... laying in the chicken yard... with no visible injuries!!!!!

What am I dealing with here!?????

It makes me sad to lose my chickens, but I honestly would feel better if what was killing them was actually getting a meal out of them.

p.s. this summer I had 7 baby chicks and only 1 survived. they would go into this brush pile right outside of the fence.. and completely disappear.. I saw it happen with my own 2 eyes!!!!!. I even went out there and kicked and moved the brush around, found nothing, and they never returned!!!
So, maybe something small is trying to get everything but is never successful???? but my Roo was BIG!!!..

I'm at a loss!..

Any ideas fellow predator victims???

 

[CMV]

I'd check them over very carefully for injuries. You must be missing something. Are they covered in wetness- like dog slobber? Any broken bones? Could they have died by flailing into something trying to get away from a predator? No wounds at all? Check every inch of them. Do you live near water?

Any number of things will go after baby chicks, but a full sized rooster is a different story. Most predators will not just kill indiscriminately and then leave the bodies behind. The only three I can think of are dogs, weasels and minks. Occasionally a large snake will try to take a bigger meal than it can physically handle. But you would see some sign of injury to the bodies.

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

Snakes

 

[LAMchop]

to you, it seems worse to me too when the predator doesn't even eat them.

When we had a bear attack this summer, it remodeled the coop and killed all the chickens but didn't even take a nibble of them. It looked like they had been thrown against the wall or hit by a flailing paw (sad!)

This doesn't sound like what you're dealing with though... it sounds more like a dog, or possibly a bird of prey that made the kill, but couldn't take off with it?

 

[midwestmilkmaiden]

That's what I was thinkin' .. The Hawk, but couldn't carry it off..

BUT.. when my poor ol' Roo got done'!!!.. Somethin' else has got to be the blame!

He was One Shinin' STar.. a Red STar I believe.

So... maybe..maybeeee... the hawk killed the one lonely hen that I found, but NOT the ROO. It seems to me that something startled him out of his sleep.. ( maybe his favorite hen being hurt).. and then, in the midst of him maybe trying to protect her.. bam.. something.. something... but.. WHAT!!!!.. What would kill a big ol' Roo and leave him for dead! .. without much of a scratch!!!!!!??????

***tears***tears***

forgot to say.. maybe I did in the original post.. but.. My big Ol' Roo got hurt in the middle of the night.. Hawk's don't hunt .. from what I know.. in the middle of the night.. it's got to be somethin' else.. and coon's to me seem like they'd atleast eat somethin' of the bird..

 

[BorderKelpie]

I haven't any real ideas, but I am sorry for your losses.

 

[Overeasyplz]

Any broken bones? Try the neck. It may be hard to belive, but some humans can be cruel. maybe some neighborhood freak wrung their necks...

 

[AHappychick]

wow that is weird and yes a hawk does not hunt at night. Most things eat at least something.

Sorry for your loss I m thinking maybe a snake as well. were any of them wet?

 

[lorieMN]

sounds like a mink,,many times they will just bit the neck and suck the blood and leave the rest..I have had them where they didnt leave any visible signs at all,,just dead birds.

 

[KKatknap]

Any neighbor dogs?

I'm so sorry. I hope you are able to figure this out. Heartbreaking when it is so pointless.