Help!!!! Cannibal Chickens?!?!?!?

[veggiegrl]

Hello everyone.

So we have an emergency on our hands. We have, or had, a flock of 12 hens with one rooster. We also had a goose in with the flock up until yesterday when we re-homed her. Each day, for the last two days, we've found a hen dead with her head ripped off! This morning, my wife found another dead chicken, with head intact. We're thinking it was the goose that killed the first two chickens. We read somewhere that if geese are in mating season they will become aggressive and territiorial? However, the goose is gone and we have another dead hen on our hands this morning.

We're not sure exactly what is going on. Is it the rooster? Is something else going on? Should we kill off the flock and start over? I really don't know what to do about this.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and welcomed!!

Thanks - Joe

 

[Odelia]

How secure is your coop? I can not imagine a scenario where the rooster is decapitating your hens.

 

[veggiegrl]

Thanks for the response. Their area is very secure. We checked it yesterday and no issues. We have netting on the top, chicken wire running up the chain link fence and railroad ties all around the chicken run. I'm thinking the decapitating might have been the goose, but I dont know for sure. I'm clueless right now. Even if it was the goose, it doesnt explain why there was another dead one today. I have no clue what we should do.

 

[veggiegrl]

We've been told that this type of stuff can happen if the chickens are bored or not getting enough protein? We feed Purina Layena egg layer with 18% protein and provide the hens with hay to dig through.

 

[Odelia]

Is any part of the chicken eaten? Even if it is just the crop or brains. I still think you have a predator and not a feral rooster. My first thought was raccoon. If you feel the coop is pretty secure then I would go weasel or mink. They can fit through some very small spaces.

 

[veggiegrl]

That's the weird thing though. When we saw the chicken this morning, it was the other hens eating her. There were feathers everywhere and the chickens were eating the feathers too. Would a weasel or mink just kill a hen then leave and not eat any of it?

We never had any problems until we found the two hens missing their heads and even then, it was just the heads missing and the rest of the bodies were completely intact. I think these two were because of the goose, but I dont know for sure.

 

[CMV]

Good idea about rehoming the goose. It is breeding season and geese do get very aggressive this time of year. I have had several injuries to my smaller birds over the years due to the goose.

Minks and weasels leave the body essentially intact initially. They tend to drink the blood more than molest the bodies at first. They will then bury/cache the body and let it cure for a while before eating it. Mink and weasels have also been known to kill just for sport and not for food at all. They are nocturnal, so their adventures are almost strictly during the night. If there is anyway to get into your coop at night, you need to fix this. An impenetrable house is a necessity to truly establish whether the issue is external or internal.

Chicken will cannibalize each other under certain circumstances. Overcrowding and lighting issues (too much or more often too little) are two big reasons you will see this. Birds will also start cannibalizing if they are not being fed properly, but it sounds like that is not the case here. If a bird should die naturally (or unnaturally) then the other birds will pick at the body, often leading the poultrykeeper to make the rather gruesome discovery later on.

Could the birds be dying due to illness and getting molested after death? Any subtle signs of a potential health problem?

 

[veggiegrl]

We're going to lock them up tonight and but a game camera in their area to see what might be coming by, if this is indeed the problem. We haven't had any health problems with this flock recently. I believe they are getting fed adequately, but I might try and increase the amount we feed them to see if that changes anything. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Odelia]

I like the camera idea. Please let us know what you find.

 

[Jenniferfoote]

I went out to see my girls this morning and one of my layers had half the skin under her wing ripped off. I have her in sick bay!!
I think my Rooster did it and has started a pick frenzy. I just hope no one else catches on. So how do you stop Cannibalism once it starts?