Murderous Chickens??

[Chickenfeeder22]

Okay so I don't know what is going on but in the span of a week my mom and I have found 2 dead hens. The first was a young Houdan, pretty new to the flock so I'm guessing they were already picking on her and things got out of hand. My mom found her practically mauled. Just this morning when I went into the chicken run I found another dead hen! This one was a older Maran. She has been part of the flock for a while and I'm pretty sure was one of the more dominant hens so it's a bit of a surprise. She wasn't really mauled but her head was cut off and almost all eaten away. Sorry to be so graphic but I'm trying to figure out what is going on! They also haven't been laying as much. We have somewhere between 35-38 hens and are only getting about 4 eggs a day on a good day. Thoughts on what is happening or how to stop what seems to be a killing spree?

 

[sourland]

With a head eaten away, my gut instinct is that you are dealing with a predator.

 

[Thunder344]

Yep, most likely a predator. Is there any way a predator could get in with your girls, do you let them free range, etc?

 

[EvaRay1525]

More than likely it was a predator like a hawk, raccoon , possum, etc. Is your coop predator proof ?

 

[Chickenfeeder22]

With a head eaten away, my gut instinct is that you are dealing with a predator.

I actually hadn't thought about a predator. We have a fence around the run but no roof. We have some cats on the property but have never had trouble before. If it was a predator would they have left the remainder of the head in the coop? The rest of the chicken wasn't really pecked at or anything, and the rest of the chickens were pretty much leaving the body alone.

 

[RoosterML]

Sounds like a hawk to me.

 

[ChassiNoir]

We have owls who will rip the head off of hens while leaving the body. Though the chickens cooperatively coop up when it’s dark enough, I have heard these owls during dusk. Could be an owl?

 

[Chickenfeeder22]

Yep, most likely a predator. Is there any way a predator could get in with your girls, do you let them free range, etc?

They don't free range but do have a pretty big run with no roof. The only thing that concerns me about this is that they did just kill a hen earlier this week. Do you think they can be connected or are both freak accidents?

 

[EvaRay1525]

I actually hadn't thought about a predator. We have a fence around the run but no roof. We have some cats on the property but have never had trouble before. If it was a predator would they have left the remainder of the head in the coop? The rest of the chicken wasn't really pecked at or anything, and the rest of the chickens were pretty much leaving the body alone.

It may have been a hawk or a disease. I have had chicken die from a disease and the chickens have tried to peck at it so maybe the chicken died like that?

 

[Thunder344]

They don't free range but do have a pretty big run with no roof. The only thing that concerns me about this is that they did just kill a hen earlier this week. Do you think they can be connected or are both freak accidents?

Most likely they are connected. A fox, or a hawk would remember there are tasty lil chickens and would come back, or watch your chickens. I have two foxes that even though i haven't seen them in 4 weeks, as soon as we let them free range it comes and takes 3.

Sounds like a hawk to me.

Hawk or Fox to me

It may have been a hawk or a disease. I have had chicken die from a disease and the chickens have tried to peck at it so maybe the chicken died like that?

If a chicken dies in with the other chickens, the flock members can eat the dead one. But i think this is a predator, or maybe some disease. Do you have any idea of what disease it could be???