My chickens killed a mockingbird-normal????

[karri25]

I went out this morning to feed/water and give treats like I do each morning when I found my roo running around eating a dead bird. I don't kno wwho killed it or why but they are all running after each other taking turns-ugh. Is this normal? Does thi smean that they don't have enough protein in their diet??? Does this mean that they are bored in their coop and need some new and different thing sto play with? I just want them to be happy and I certainly don't want them killing any of my birds that I feed!
Thanks for any insight!

 

[tiffanyh]

I think they will kill anything smaller than them , ecspecially in a "pack" of chicks. My friend had a rat and the chickens killed it! I htink it is normal..but see what everyone else says.

 

[karri25]

Well that makes me feel better at least. Although it was so gross to see my roo baby running with a dead bird in his mouth. I hope that I will be able to forget all about it:-(

How sad that they killed a pet. At least this was a stranger killing.

 

[GoodEgg]

My chicks have tried to go after the kitten (a found kitten that was very small, and even now is smaller than the chicks) and my daughter's gerbils. The ducks tried also when they were inside.

So I guess it's normal, and when it's pest animals they are killing it seems like a good thing. I hadn't thought of mockingbirds ... yesterday there were two mockingbirds annoying the ducks (they try to chase off the ducks and cats). I guess when the chickens get bigger they might want to watch out.

At least I can hope they will also chase snakes and any rats/mice that might come around.

trish

 

[justusnak]

My biggest fear with them eating the dead bird is....was the bird sick? Is this how they caught it? Did it die in the pen,and then they ate it? I dont let mine eat other birds. Just in case.

 

[karri25]

Thank you for the info. Doesn't it make y'all sad that our sweet little chickies aren't so sweet? I know it's good that they can protect themselves but it skeeves me out alot that they actively kill.

 

[silkiechicken]

I dont know what's wrong with my chickens. They are scared of rats!

 

[karri25]

I have heard that putting spearamint leaves around feed and such deters rodents. I began trying that out thi smorning, I will let you know how it works.

 

[jessied1227]

My girls will kill and eat pretty much any small thing that comes along their paths.

I have seen them eat small snakes, toads (ew!) and a grinny. Don't ask me how they caught the grinny, but they did.

While I don't like to see them eating those things up, they do help us out with small pest control (ie: snakes, grinnies), but I do wish they would leave the little toads alone. We have a bumper crop of toads this year, and the girls really go for them.

Jess

 

[devora]

jessied1227: Thanks so much for 'grinny'! I had to look it up and found it's a regionalism. (For anyone else out there wondering, it's a chipmunk.)

My 12 week old girls ate a lizard. This stuff doesn't faze me too much. It seems natural. Now if they were to attack each other....ugh!