My hen was attacked and killed (graphic pics)...I am devastated

[CMV]

I also think it's the work of a raptor. It will be back for more. Tomorrow morning it will likely return to the kill site and you can figure out which type of hawk it is. Fortunately for your hen she probably never knew what hit her. The feather explosion means the hawk dropped on her like a ton of bricks. It likely stunned or even killed her instantly. Your roo jumped to her aid as any good rooster would do, but got a chunk taken out of his butt for his troubles. You might want to check him over carefully to make sure he doesn't have any hidden punctures. Roos will sometimes tussle with hawks and end up with some pretty nasty little injuries themselves.

I am sorry for your loss. Raptors are my bane.

Good luck.

 

[WriterofWords]

I'm sorry for you, I can empathize right now very well.

 

[Darth Egger]

It's interesting to me to see how many votes for bird of prey.

I don't disagree, but my experience has been different. In the cases of hawk attack that I've seen, the hawk had landed on the chicken's saddle and the death blow came by biting the neck, which in the case of youngsters was an easy decapitation.

That does perhaps explain the blood on your rooster though. Odd that a bird of prey would go for the rooster first, no? With mine, it first had a hen and for whatever reason, she got away and then it switched it's attention to the rooster.

Additionally, my rooster fatality had only his actual meat eaten, not guts. It was quite clearly picked and torn by a raptor. I do intend to do a little post about crime scene investigation, but I'm just not ready to see those photos yet.

Whatever the case, I wish for nobody to ever have to see one of his/her chickens like this. It goes with the territory more or less, but that does not make it easy.

 

[mprivett]

Thanks so much everyone for your empathy and kind replies. So glad to have people who truly understand

I am keeping a lookout for any hawks or raptors around our house now and keeping the rest of the flock in their coop/run combo. I wish I would have had a wildlife camera or something to know what happened, but thanks to all of yall's skills in "crime scene" analysis I think I have a pretty good idea now.

The rooster and the two hens that are left are quite shaken up and scared I think....this morning they barely came out of their coop and only ate a little bit of their FAVORITE treat before going back up into the coop. Usually they devour the treat in a matter of seconds. Bless their hearts

 

[joebryant]

OMG! I'm not sure that I could deal with that. Sorry for your loss and your experiencing finding such a scene. AWFUL!

 

[crawfordmama]

I'm so sorry for your loss!

I too think it's the work of a raptor.

Like you said, they are much happier when they are allowed to free range. It's a risk we take to give them happy lives.

 

[iluvsedward]

 

[QuinnP]

Please accept my condolenses for your loss. I am so sorry.

BIG HUGGLES

 

[Beth G.]

Hi,

I'm so sorry for your loss! I feel for you b/c I had a family of hawks kill 3 of my babies. They were only 4 months old and they picked the lighter ones like my hamburg, JG, and a small red prod pullet. It was so horrible to see. after I cried for a few mins I had to clean it up b/c I couldn't stomach my older fowl trying to pick away at the remains. The pictures you show are definately from a hawk. I have the same one flying over my pens daily. My Roosters have smartened up and make such a noise that most of my birds stay under cover for most of the day in fear of the hawk and hearing the rooster talking to them.

Your poor boy probably tried to ward off the hawk when it tried to take another chicken!!

Best wishes,
Beth

 

[mprivett]

Oh Beth G. that's horrible!!

It is such a hard thing to find and go through so I'm grateful so many people can empathize.

After looking Mr. Rue over again I think he does indeed have some puncture wounds (I saw a bunch of dried blood around this tail feathers). How should I treat this exactly so that it does not get infected? I was going to clean the wounds, then put neosporin on it? Should I bandage it too or try to clean with hydrogen peroxide? I also have tea tree oil which is a natural antiseptic.....I'll try to search for a thread for treating puncture wounds.