About a month ago on July 23, I noticed that one of my 18 month old buff orpington hens had red marks on the back of her head, and was isolating herself from the other hens, and seems subdued. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-with-missing-head-feathers.1483789/
A few weeks ago, on August 8, I noticed that I was missing two hens, and wondered if a hawk or owl were attacking and taking my hens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/am-i-losing-birds-to-a-predator.1486986/
I started taking a frequent inventory, and in the last three weeks my flock has remained constant at 33 birds.
Yesterday I was horrified to find the body of the missing buff orpington hen. It was in the metal shed/coop that the hens use to hide from the sun, lay eggs, and feed. Some of the birds roost there as well, mostly the birds with clipped wings who can not fly anymore. There are two metal doors to the shed that I never attached--they are leaning against an interior wall and behind the doors is a small enclosed area that a hen could hide in. The hen's body had been in the enclosed area, behind the unattached doors, and had somehow moved from hidden behind the door to being visible on the ground where I discovered it.
All the meat and insides of the hens body were gone--only feathers, tendons and bones remained. The hen's body was still in one piece.
In trying to reconstruct what happened, I think the hen may have been under attack by the other hens and perhaps retreated to the enclosed area behind the doors for safety. She may have been pecked to death and then cannibalized by the other birds.
Another possibility was she died from disease behind the door and rats ate her. Only problem with this idea is that I got the rats under control last year and I never see any rats anymore--and I check the area at night with cameras regularly. Plus, I never smelled any dead chicken at all, and I feed the birds about 3 feet from where I found her body. See the photo.
I've lost other birds to disease/medical conditions and their bodies were never molested, but I removed them quickly--in this case, the body lay behind the metal doors for 2 to 4 weeks.
I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of others experienced in keeping chickens on what may have happened to my chicken. I mentioned two missing birds--still no sign of the 2nd lost bird.
The photo shows the shed/coop. The body was where the Easter Egger is standing. The bird's food bowl is in the foreground.
A few weeks ago, on August 8, I noticed that I was missing two hens, and wondered if a hawk or owl were attacking and taking my hens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/am-i-losing-birds-to-a-predator.1486986/
I started taking a frequent inventory, and in the last three weeks my flock has remained constant at 33 birds.
Yesterday I was horrified to find the body of the missing buff orpington hen. It was in the metal shed/coop that the hens use to hide from the sun, lay eggs, and feed. Some of the birds roost there as well, mostly the birds with clipped wings who can not fly anymore. There are two metal doors to the shed that I never attached--they are leaning against an interior wall and behind the doors is a small enclosed area that a hen could hide in. The hen's body had been in the enclosed area, behind the unattached doors, and had somehow moved from hidden behind the door to being visible on the ground where I discovered it.
All the meat and insides of the hens body were gone--only feathers, tendons and bones remained. The hen's body was still in one piece.
In trying to reconstruct what happened, I think the hen may have been under attack by the other hens and perhaps retreated to the enclosed area behind the doors for safety. She may have been pecked to death and then cannibalized by the other birds.
Another possibility was she died from disease behind the door and rats ate her. Only problem with this idea is that I got the rats under control last year and I never see any rats anymore--and I check the area at night with cameras regularly. Plus, I never smelled any dead chicken at all, and I feed the birds about 3 feet from where I found her body. See the photo.
I've lost other birds to disease/medical conditions and their bodies were never molested, but I removed them quickly--in this case, the body lay behind the metal doors for 2 to 4 weeks.
I'd be interested in hearing the thoughts of others experienced in keeping chickens on what may have happened to my chicken. I mentioned two missing birds--still no sign of the 2nd lost bird.
The photo shows the shed/coop. The body was where the Easter Egger is standing. The bird's food bowl is in the foreground.
Hard to say.
