dead

[jfoldbar]

i have 6 isa browns about 2 yrs old.
suddenly my wife looked last night and saw one of them dead. and its rear end looked as though it was already starting to rot. it looks as though some small animal had been trying to bore its way into the hen. like something out of an alien movie.
but it was walking around fine yesterday.
any idea what can hit them so fast.

 

[americana-lover]

chickens, and every other bird, has drop dead syndrome, which means they will seem find one minute, and dead the other. It happened to a few of my birds over the years. But your hen is really young, so is there any way a predator attacked it? So sorry for your loss!!!

 

[tadpole98]

i have 6 isa browns about 2 yrs old.
suddenly my wife looked last night and saw one of them dead. and its rear end looked as though it was already starting to rot. it looks as though some small animal had been trying to bore its way into the hen. like something out of an alien movie.
but it was walking around fine yesterday.
any idea what can hit them so fast.

Small as in a weasel?

 

[jfoldbar]

im in australia. there are no weazels here that i know of. it wasnt a predator. i live in a city with fully fenced yard. the only animal that knows i have chickens is 1 neighbours cat is always watching them. it gave up trying to catch them about 6 months ago and now it just watches.

 

[Suzie]

Yes Tadpole98!

A weasel would do that - I had a similar find a few weeks ago... whatever killed my chicken seemed to bore a hole in the side of it... perfectly round and the chicken breast was expertly removed. We do have weasels here and the feral cat usually takes care of them.

The chicken was in the coop at the time but there was a small hole at the bottom of the door which would have accommodated a weasel.

Suzie

 

[Suzie]

Just read your update - it may have been a cat but ours here just watches and never goes to attack even our young chicks - hope you find out whatever the predator is.

Suzie

 

[tadpole98]

A cat could have possibly done it too. but usually it would play with it ripping it up and such. ( at least thats my experience with some wild cats.. they are no longer around )