GRAPHIC What killed my hen? Predator or illness?

[WingsysRoost]

I just had my first chicken lost to (presumably) a predator of some kind today. She was laying on the ground right by the fence that separates the chicken yard from the portion of the yard where the dogs go, with a small portion of her intestines hanging out of her stomach through a small opening, but aside from that, a few marks on her like bite or peck marks, and a feather or two on the ground beside her, it didn't look like anything had been messing with her. It seemed like an odd location for her to be in, as that area is frequently visited throughout the day with both people and dogs. If anything, I would expect a predator attack near the back of the yard, since there is less foot traffic there and there are plenty of places for things like weasels to hide in.

My hens are two years old and, aside from some hawk scares in the last year, I haven't really had any predator issues. I know that things are there, of course, but I've been quite lucky to not have any actual attacks (other than possibly today).

Based on how she looked, my understanding is that it could have been a weasel of some kind that killed her. I thought weasels normally killed multiple birds at once, though, rather than only one (unless it was interrupted, but again, she was right up by the fence and no one saw anything). I would also think there would be more feathers, if she was struggling while being attacked. It would have been light out when she was attacked, if that helps. She was close enough to the fence that it would have been difficult for a hawk to get her and kill her on the spot. There also isn't enough disturbance (or injury on her, for that matter) for me to think that something tried to carry her and failed, but I suppose that's possible.

I was told (since I was at work when this happened) that a large bird with some white on it came by and was picking at the spot. I'm going to guess this was a hawk since I don't know of anything else that fits this description. I've heard that they will scavenge on occasion, so it could have been that, or it could have been the culprit coming back. I really would expect more scattered feathers if it was a hawk, but maybe not?

My other thought is that she might have had a prolapse or some other issue. She had been having issues with soft eggs for a while, which at first I thought might have been because she was molting but it was definitely going on too long for that. She was also paler than any of the others and she definitely looked "sick" to my eyes, even though I was watching her closely and found nothing definitive for me to treat. I almost thought she might be developing water belly or peritonitis because she did seem to be heavier in the stomach than most of my other hens, and slowing down as well, but again, nothing definitive.

I've heard that they can prolapse so badly that their intestines end up out. I'm wondering if this might have happened, given her history of egg issues, and then the other hens picked at her. She could have also passed and then the other hens picked at her, especially since she was flipped on her back and she was missing some feathers on her stomach. It almost looked like this might have happened due to the lack of mass trauma everywhere else. It did look like there was a small amount of blood on her head/neck and on her wing, but it was a small enough amount that it could potentially have been from head trauma when she passed or from the other chickens pecking her.

Is this actually a possibility here, or is this definitely the work of some kind of predator? I don't want to keep them locked up if I don't have to, but I'm not going to send them out if there's a high chance of something coming back to finish the job.

Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[thecatumbrella]

Sorry I don't have any good advice or suggestions, but I'm so sorry that happened to her

 

[WingsysRoost]

Sorry I don't have any good advice or suggestions, but I'm so sorry that happened to her

Thank you. She was a very sweet bird, not the most cuddly but still sweet, and she had such a personality. Of course, I had no way of knowing what was going to happen, but I definitely wish I didn't let them out this morning. I just really hope it isn't a weasel or anything similar.

I really do wonder if it was health related. I've had really terrible luck with this group and laying-related health issues. Even if a predator didn't get her, she probably would have had health issues sooner rather than later, unfortunately.

 

[-Chanticleer-]

She may have died by the fence and then something got to her. If it was a bad prolapse the intestines would have come out the vent. Sorry for your loss. I hope you get to the bottom of what happened.

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

What is your location? That will help folks to identify your local predators.

Do you ever see hawks? I've herd that hawks will kill and then just eat selective little bits of the bird. So sorry

 

[WingsysRoost]

What is your location? That will help folks to identify your local predators.

Do you ever see hawks? I've herd that hawks will kill and then just eat selective little bits of the bird. So sorry

I'm located in Ontario, Canada.

Honestly, hawk was my first thought. They're everywhere here and we've had some close calls (one was sitting on the fence less than twelve feet from one of the chickens, and said chicken was completely oblivious!). It doesn't look like any feathers were plucked, and there isn't a ton of feathers everywhere like I would expect if the hawk actually swooped down and grabbed her. A hawk grabbed a mourning dove right over the yard and there was feathers literally everywhere. This is not the case here. I guess one could have decided to scavenge, though. That could be a possibility.

Thank you for the input.

 

[WingsysRoost]

She may have died by the fence and then something got to her. If it was a bad prolapse the intestines would have come out the vent. Sorry for your loss. I hope you get to the bottom of what happened.

That's what I was thinking. It seems like a weird location for an attack, but maybe we just have a really bold predator. (I sure hope not!)

Thanks for your input.

 

[WingsysRoost]

I have a picture of her here, if that helps.

 

[WingsysRoost]

There really isn't a ton of blood, either, which I thought was weird if something tried to eat her shortly after she was killed.

Could this indicate that something came along after she was killed? I have no experience with predators, so I really don't know what is typical and what isn't.

 

[WingsysRoost]

Still trying to figure out what could have done this. All the sources I've seen say that weasel or mink kills are much messier than this.

Hawk is a likely possibility at this point. I didn't think they usually started with the stomach and I also thought there would be more feathers in the area around if it was a hawk who actually killed her, but who knows at this point. I would also expect some sort of visible talon marks somewhere on her if that was the case.

Opossum? I don't know if one would have actually killed her because she was one of my bigger chickens, but we do have some large opossums here. If she was weak and couldn't get away, or already dead, I could see it being possible. She did have marks on her neck that looked like a bite wound, and from what I read, opossums will go for the abdomen of a bird. I have seen them in the area where she was, in daylight, so this is seeming more and more likely.

(It still doesn't explain the hawk visiting. Having learned that they will scavenge, though, it may have just been checking things out in hopes of a meal it didn't have to hunt.)