My chickens ate a large kitten......

[Melenae]

I saw my girls really interested in something in the back yard so I went out to check and they had eaten a poor kitten. They ate pretty much the whole thing and it was pretty large about 2 months old I'd say. I'm wondering if there is anything I should worry about as far as disease or parasites go. I don't know if it had died in my yard overnight and they ate it or if my girls actually killed the kitten. My girls are very territorial when it comes to small birds in my yard so they very well could have killed it. This sounds gross but if it was fresh I wouldn't be so worried but what if it died of something weird, you know? Any imput would be very helpful, thank you!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think all you can do is observe your for the next few days to see if anyone develops symptoms of being sick.

Do you know where the kitten came from?

 

[coach723]

There is some small chance of toxoplasmosis if the kitten was carrying it. Also poison would be a problem if the kitten had died from poisoning. Like @Wyorp Rock said, mostly all you can do is watch your birds to see if any of them show signs of sickness. I'm so sorry, I would have hated to have found that.
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/feed-health/cats-chickens-toxoplasmosis-in-humans/

 

[Melenae]

I think all you can do is observe your for the next few days to see if anyone develops symptoms of being sick.

Do you know where the kitten came from?

I have no idea where the cat came from unfortunately the neighborhood I live in has tons of strays. I appreciate your reply, so far none of the girls have developed any symptoms but I can't bring myself to eat their eggs lol. I'm gonna have to give that some time.

 

[Melenae]

There is some small chance of toxoplasmosis if the kitten was carrying it. Also poison would be a problem if the kitten had died from poisoning. Like @Wyorp Rock said, mostly all you can do is watch your birds to see if any of them show signs of sickness. I'm so sorry, I would have hated to have found that.
https://backyardpoultry.iamcountryside.com/feed-health/cats-chickens-toxoplasmosis-in-humans/

It was awful poor thing. I don't suspect the kitten had been poisoned so that's one less thing to worry about! They seem to be acting fine so far so hopefully they'll be ok. Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[ChickNanny13]

It's good that you hold off eating their eggs, just incase the hens start showing any signs of illness. I would say 14days is a good enough "withdrawal" period?

 

[Sequel]

Oh no! Oh I feel so sorry for you! And the kitten of course but how awful for you! I hope your chickens are just fine.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have no idea where the cat came from unfortunately the neighborhood I live in has tons of strays. I appreciate your reply, so far none of the girls have developed any symptoms but I can't bring myself to eat their eggs lol. I'm gonna have to give that some time.

Understandable! I probably wouldn't be able to eat the eggs for a while either

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry about your chickens eating the dead kitten. I suppose botulism could be possible if the kitten had been dead for sometime. The symptoms are flaccid paralysis starting in the legs, then wings, then the neck and eyelids. Hopefully it had not been dead long enough to have been contaminated.

 

[sorce]

No worries...

You know what they say kitten tastes like....

Buk buk!

Sorce