My babies ate and killed a mouse?

[Aunt Angus]

Maybe they're secretly escaping, hunting down skulls and bringing them back?

Are they maybe in the shavings? Like they burrowed in there before you bought them and died? Idk.

 

[Isadora]

I think your chicks are too young to debone a mouse. Typically chickens will eat things whole since they don't have teeth. Rip off small pieces if necessary and swallow it, or swallow the whole thing whole if it's small enough. Your chicks are awfully young and wouldn't be able to do that but to have a couple of mouse skull bones that are perfectly clean? I don't see it happening.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I think your chicks are too young to debone a mouse. Typically chickens will eat things whole since they don't have teeth. Rip off small pieces if necessary and swallow it, or swallow the whole thing whole if it's small enough. Your chicks are awfully young and wouldn't be able to do that but to have a couple of mouse skull bones that are perfectly clean? I don't see it happening.

X2

 

[The-White-Elephant]

We have 10 baby chicks in a bin inside right now, along with 2 ducks.

We spent all day outside yesterday working on the yard, and the kids (older teens and young adults) kept using the babies as an excuse to take breaks.

I went in with them about 2-3 hours after the last "check " and there was a mouse skull, and a couple of bones in with the birds.

We know we have mice in the yard,and that they occasionally get into the unfinished basement. I was a little worried about it, but I've seen chickens and ducks decimate mice and snakes plenty, so my hope was that if one got in, they'd gang up on it and kill it. I did not think they would eat the whole thing.

I posted about it on FB, and once of my friends, who honestly seems to think I know nothing about what I'm doing, said someone is pranking me. Several other chicken owning friends were not the least bit surprised.

What is your experience? Wr don't know exactly how old they are. At least 1 week. About half of the chick were 2-3 days older than the other half when we got them a week ago, and the ducks looked about 5 days old, but they are HUGE now, compared to the chicks.

Max, I think some of them could be 3 weeks old, but most are about 1.5 weeks old.

What do you think? Could my flock have done this damage if they were threatened by a rogue mouse?

This has happened to me 3 times, but with hens a few months old. Make sure there isn’t a nest somewhere.

 

[The Moonshiner]

@Al Gerhart you better sell this one a treadle feeder before these grow up to be really dangerous individuals.

 

[MGG]

I think one of your kids is playing a joke on you, they probably found them while working in the yard. Those are old skulls. Your chicks never would have done that.

 

[Gracellyn23]

I've seen adult chickens kill and eat mice before so I wouldn't be surprised if chicks could do it too. However that skull does look pretty old.

 

[Shawn Family Farms]

Chickens love eating baby mice. Prolly have devoured an entire army of mice at my parents coop.

 

[nuthatched]

Completely normal.

 

[chickfused]

I just watched one of my hens find an unfortunate rodent out in the pen. It didn't last long.