Hawk? molting?

[mychickensneaky]

My pet chicken Sneaky I call her has lost her tail. Witch is really weird because she used to have a long pretty tail. Just a day ago. So I left my chickens out to free range when I left to go out to town. The next morning when I saw her she had no tail and her neck looked funny. I thought isn't that were hawks land on them to kill them? Or I could just be jumping to conclusions and she could just be molting right? Do chickens loose there tail when they molt

 

[brahmabreeder]

First off it's molt not malt. If it was a hawk the chances of it still being alive are slim. Hawks usually get on the chicken and how they actually kill them is beyond me. I know they usually eat their sides out. If your bird truly was attacked by a hawk she probably would have gone into shock with that much damage. Meaning unless some thing scared the hawk away then he would have ate her out. So no I don't think it was a hawk.

 

[Dan Lo]

I'm thinking fox or dog, I had a fox attack one of my chickens a couple week ago, she got away and I chased the fox away. She lost her tail feathers but is fine. I have an electric fence now.

 

[mychickensneaky]

First off it's molt not malt. If it was a hawked the chances of it still being alive are slim. Hawks usually get on the chicken and how they actually kill them is beyond me. I know they usually eat their sides out. If your bird truly was attacked by a hawk she probably would have gone into shock with that much damage. Meaning unless some thing scared the hawk away then he would have ate her out. So no I don't think it

Thanks for catching me on spelling molting wrong! I really don't feel good I have a really bad head cold! I just feel horrible. I have hawks circling my whole house so I got a dog and she knows how to protect my chickens and stuff. I did find feathers all around my house. I thought maybe A hawk pulled out feathers and then got chased away by my dog. Before any real damage could go on.

 

[JesseK]

I had a dog attack and the dog pulled out all of one of my girl's tail feathers. She had hid in a spot that her tail was the only thing the dog could reach.

 

[Haveandtohold]

How long have you had this hen? Molting is usually in the fall as you probably know but can vary from breed to breed so might be worth looking up specifics for her breed. Losing tail feathers to an over-excited dog isn't that uncommon so you might want to watch and see if your dog is being more of a bully than a protector? Another reason may be that she's not getting enough protein. Have you changed her diet at all recently? Is she the bottom of the pecking order and maybe not getting the same access to food as usual?