What an interesting Halloween my birds had!
First, let me start by explaining the layout of their enclosure. The main structure is a 12 X 12 dog pen, with a roof kit and hardware cloth covering the bottom 48 inches and door. Layered under that is chicken wire that covers the entire structure, including the roof. The roof tarp has been placed over the chicken wire. Cinder blocks surround the outside, and the ground inside has been covered with patio bricks, minus a sand pit in the middle. Their rather tall hen house is raised off the floor with bricks; the roof sits about five feet off the ground. I shut the enclosure after dark when they go inside, and I've never had anything get inside and get to them in the five years since I've built it. On mild evenings, my five younger girls (11 months to 3 years old) roost on the roof of the hen house, while my 9 year old hen and 3 year old roo sleep inside the hen house.
Well, the morning of Nov 1st, I went out there to open the door so they could forage and romp for the day, and the roof of the hen house was covered in BLOOD! Seriously, it looked like a crime scene! It was concentrated mainly on the peak of the roof, but there was so much of it, that it actually ran down the roof and dripped on the bricks below. I had never seen so much blood! Aside from where it dripped down, there was no blood anywhere else in the enclosure. At first I thought Coccidia, but there was no bloody stool, just straight blood, and every single one of my birds is acting JUST FINE! All eating, all happy and robust, nice pink combs and wattles, not a sign of anything amiss! I suspected maybe an injury as well, but aside from where they tracked the blood on their feet pacing back and forth on the roof of the hen house, there is not a single speck of blood anywhere on any of them, and none of them are limping or showing any sign of discomfort.
Just to be safe I broke out the gloves and bleach, and disinfected and hosed out the entire enclosure, and they've been on Corid since that day. Better a needlessly medicated bird than a dead one, amirite? But I'm still baffled. What on EARTH could have happened? It occurs to me that it wouldn't be impossible for a mouse or small snake to get in, and if it did, my birds would not hesitate to go after it. I've even seen them go after full-grown copperheads, pecking relentlessly after them and chasing them off my property. But again, there was no blood on the floor other than where it dripped off the roof, and there's no sign of a carcass(or pieces of a carcass) anywhere else. Could they seriously have snatched it up, took it to their roost, and then tore it apart Freddy Kreuger style and swallowed the whole thing?? Has anyone here ever had anything like this happen with their flock?
First, let me start by explaining the layout of their enclosure. The main structure is a 12 X 12 dog pen, with a roof kit and hardware cloth covering the bottom 48 inches and door. Layered under that is chicken wire that covers the entire structure, including the roof. The roof tarp has been placed over the chicken wire. Cinder blocks surround the outside, and the ground inside has been covered with patio bricks, minus a sand pit in the middle. Their rather tall hen house is raised off the floor with bricks; the roof sits about five feet off the ground. I shut the enclosure after dark when they go inside, and I've never had anything get inside and get to them in the five years since I've built it. On mild evenings, my five younger girls (11 months to 3 years old) roost on the roof of the hen house, while my 9 year old hen and 3 year old roo sleep inside the hen house.
Well, the morning of Nov 1st, I went out there to open the door so they could forage and romp for the day, and the roof of the hen house was covered in BLOOD! Seriously, it looked like a crime scene! It was concentrated mainly on the peak of the roof, but there was so much of it, that it actually ran down the roof and dripped on the bricks below. I had never seen so much blood! Aside from where it dripped down, there was no blood anywhere else in the enclosure. At first I thought Coccidia, but there was no bloody stool, just straight blood, and every single one of my birds is acting JUST FINE! All eating, all happy and robust, nice pink combs and wattles, not a sign of anything amiss! I suspected maybe an injury as well, but aside from where they tracked the blood on their feet pacing back and forth on the roof of the hen house, there is not a single speck of blood anywhere on any of them, and none of them are limping or showing any sign of discomfort.
Just to be safe I broke out the gloves and bleach, and disinfected and hosed out the entire enclosure, and they've been on Corid since that day. Better a needlessly medicated bird than a dead one, amirite? But I'm still baffled. What on EARTH could have happened? It occurs to me that it wouldn't be impossible for a mouse or small snake to get in, and if it did, my birds would not hesitate to go after it. I've even seen them go after full-grown copperheads, pecking relentlessly after them and chasing them off my property. But again, there was no blood on the floor other than where it dripped off the roof, and there's no sign of a carcass(or pieces of a carcass) anywhere else. Could they seriously have snatched it up, took it to their roost, and then tore it apart Freddy Kreuger style and swallowed the whole thing?? Has anyone here ever had anything like this happen with their flock?
