Hello. I think there was a chicken homicide.

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conorsmith5960

conorsmith5960

Hatching
6 Years
May 29, 2013
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0
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I know this is the first time you all have heard from me and I'm sure this is strange for a "welcome to the forum forum" but there were some strange events today in my coop. My wife came in after checking on the chickens (1.2 year old hens of various breeds) and said " one of the brown ones was dead in the nesting box and it looked like other chickens tried to lay eggs on it".... This got my attention. I went outside and opened the hatch to the nesting boxes. Wham, here was a brown chicken on its back and it looked like it had been beaten by a bunch of thugs. It was all pecked up on its breast. This chicken was healthy the day before but now it was dead in the nesting box. The really strange thing was there was 3 eggs on top of the dead bird, not directly on top but... It is really strange.

I wish I had taken photos. Anyway we have had a very broody bird for the last 6 weeks. She is very aggressive. She is my prime suspect... However it seems like a group effort.

Anyway, this really threw me for a loop. Please ask questions. I looked for other forums and didn't see any others quite like this.

Thanks
 
I can tell ya this...I have seen my roosters fight to the death! They mean business! And the term "pecking order" is no joke in a flock! I'm not as knowledgable as others here but I DO know one of my older hens used to beat the crap outta my new hens until they knew SHE was the boss! Just my thoughts friend!
 
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I hope you didn't contaminate the crime scene. I'm wondering if the deceased hen came too close to the aforementioned broody. Sometimes other hens try to steal the eggs - this may have set broody off. Once the poor hen was beaten /bloody(?) the others ganged up on her - chickens go after any that have injuries, they can also quickly turn cannibalistic. It might be best if broody was fenced off in a place of her own with eggs/chicks to prevent further bloodshed.
 
Crazy stuff. That's all I have to say. Anyway, I'm a new chicken care taker and this was an interesting experience.
 

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