MY CHICKENS ATE EACH OTHER AGHHH!!!!

[owlett5]

AHHHH!!

I went out this morning to refill their feed, and during the night they must have run low. It was horrible! They ate each other!! I found my lavender orpington with a big hole in her head, my buff polish was equally pecked to death and my wheaten armerucana was just plain GONE.

I feel absolutely terrible. I'm not sure if this happened because they ran out of food during the night or not, I usually check their food every other day. I'm going to start checking every single day now.

I'm also not sure if maybe they wanted more protein? They are eating chick crumble for a mixed flock (I have ducklings as well in a different pen) A few days ago they found a feather on the ground and were chasing each other for it. I did have two chicks which were probably roosters that were a bit aggressive to each other. But the buff polish and the little amerucana were super mellow and tame.

I feel so bad.

Had this happened to anyone else???

 

[forgetful]

They should not be eating at night unless you have a light on them. How old? Also, a completely gone chicken is a sign of a predator. Chickens can not eat bone overnight. That sort of pecking is an indication of aggression and not because of food. Did you add new chickens to the flock? How much space do they have? Something is wrong here.

 

[Jules713]

I doubt cannibalism to that extreme unless you have a factory in your back yard. Predator is my guess.

 

[eviemethugh]

Yeah, it sounds like a predator got in and killed two extra while taking one. Chickens are opportunistic and will eat whatever is available, they probably just nibbled at what the predator has done. Not to say that they won't kill, but 3 in one night is a bit much.

 

[owlett5]

Well that's good news and bad news at the same time!

I did have a recent incident where I think a cat or something managed to get into their coop on weds night. One chicken was half eaten on the ground outside and there was a dead chicken in the coop.

The coops sits about 4 feet off the ground though. After Weds I blocked off any holes with chicken wire.

The chickens are still chicks, about 5-6 weeks old, mostly feathered with some fluff.

I can't figure out what kind of predator could possibly get inside the coop anymore if it was one.


This picture shows their chicken run which at the moment, I have yet to connect to the chicken "house". As you can see in the picture, there was a small space by the window that used to be open, but I blocked that off a few days ago. Beneath the roof, there are six inch high openings be tween the roof and the walls, but I didn't think anything could actually climb up there to get them.

What kind of predator could possibly fit through a six inch hole 10 feet off the ground?? The roof is a metal roof too, kinda slippery!

 

[donrae]

Raccoon could do that easily. Check out this thread toward the end the OP talks about what that coon had to do to access her coop.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/976963/my-chickens-are-killing-each-other-no-they-really-are

Plus, chicken wire will keep your chickens in, but won't keep a predator out. A moderately determined dog can get through chicken wire, let along a truly hungry animal.

 

[PfeilPfamily]

I hate this for you. I am so sorry and I hope that you are able to find what's getting in there and take care of them. I lost 4 of my Welsummers to my dogs. We had them in there snug and what we can figure, they flew up onto their feeder then on to the fence and out of the run. I was devastated. The dogs just wanted to play with them.
Now everyone has their own runs and we are knee deep in more chickens.
Best wishes to you.

 

[junebuggena]

A six inch hole is actually a pretty big opening. Lots of climbing creatures that eat chickens could have gotten in. Raccoons, possums, weasels, and rats are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. All openings and gaps, no matter how small you think they are, need to be securely covered with hardware cloth.

 

[owlett5]

So tomorrow i will get hardware cloth. Hopefully when i check on them in the morning there are no more casualties. Im wondering if whatever might have eaten them climbed the tree behind the coop to drop down on the roof and get it. Seriously i never thought raising chickens would be so dangerius....

 

[junebuggena]

Chicken is delicious, you can't really blame the predators for trying to get an easy, yummy meal. But if you want to keep your chickens alive, protecting them is just as important as water, food, and shelter. You have to remember that at night time, chickens are helpless against predators. They have poor eyesight in the dark. Once asleep, they don't really wake up even if the bird next to them is getting torn to pieces.