help! 8 baby chicks dead, insides squished out

[ahnah74]

my friend and i just traveled 6 hrs. to buy some black orpington chicks last week. the chicks are a week old.
today when she went outside to check on them, they looked like they had been squeezed until their insides were squished out their little butts. She keeping them in a big dog travel crate/kennel on the porch, with a heat lamp, pine bedding, and reg. chick feed. they were fine last night, when she checked on them before bed. Nothing like a cat or dog can get in through the side vents or door on the kennel, could it have been a snake or some other predator?

mine are from the same hatching, but i keep mine inside in a brooder. They are all doing well.

thanks for any help.
anna

 

[SpringChickens]

That's very strange. Sounds like it could be a snake, but they usually don't kill more than they eat. Could she have scared it away this morning?

 

[baldie]

I have no idea!

That sounds awful. I sure hope you figure out what happened.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

OMGosh!!!!! This happend to one of my chicks yesterday! I figured my daughter had done it accidentally because she threw a 25 pound sack of starter in the coop with them. His insides were squished out too....The bag theory was my only explanation as I can't figure out how else that would have happend.

 

[chicklady63]

Oh goodness, that's was really an awful shock for her I know. I am so sorry. I hope she does find out what it was. These little ones are so defenseless that I always keep them inside until they are at least 6 weeks old & often times even older. I know it's tough sometimes to find a place to keep them & maybe more trouble than somewhere outdoors with the extra smell and dust, etc., but there are so many things that can happen. Hindsight is 20/20 I know, & who would have guessed something like this would ever occur? It's doubly awful to have made such a long drive to get them. I am sorry. Let us know if she decides what it was.

 

[chickenhick]

Were there any survivors that this didn't happen to? If this happened to all that she had, it doesn't sound like a snake. SNakes can get into just about anything, but they will only take one or two and swallow them whole. They don't mangle them and then leave. This sounds like either:
1. Prolapse , which could have been caused by lack of water, but this wouldn't happen to every one of them, I wouldn't think. Did they have adequate access to water?
2. intentional abuse , could anyone have gotten to these babies during the night without her knowing it? THis just is so strange that I cant really think of a natural predator that would squeeze them and leave without eating any.

LEt u;s know if you figure it out...

 

[ahnah74]

ok, it's been figured out. it was a case of accidental neglect. One of the kids closed the dog kennel and didn't get it shut all the way. the or both of the top posts that pop into the top when you shut it, was bent and it didn't shut all the way. Her "horses" aka labradoodles opened the cage and "played" with the chicks. you know trying to "catch them" as they ran around and ended up squishing them. Her hubby was the 1st to see them when he left early for work and just put them all back in the cage, so he could deal with it later. he menitoned that they were dead, but she was only half awake when he left for work.

needless to say she has learned her lesson about leaving them outside even if it's in a kennel and making sure it's properly closed.

 

[my1stchicks]

Glad she knows what happened but very sorry about the chicks

 

[JReedy72]

Wow...it started sounding like an episode of "X-Files" there for a moment. That has to be so sad. I am sorry for what happened. I am surprised the dogs did not eat them, but then, I am really new to this whole thing. Sounds like a great "lesson learned" for all of us.

Blessings,

Jason

 

[chickenhick]

OK, I KNEW it had to be an outside force....not a predator. I'm so sorry that happened but we all make mistakes with out babies. Just a note to whoever reads this...remember snake season is upon us. Make sure the snakes cannot get into coop in the evening and lay in wait for the girls to come in to roost. I keep the coop door closed during the day and just let them be in the fenced in yard, then at night, I open the door to the coop and inspect for snakes.