Mysterious deaths (warning, photos of dead chickens inside)

[Cla]

I woke up this morning to find 2 of my 4 chickens dead. They were in the run, which means they died before 9:30 last night because they always go into the coop no later than 9:20 pm. It had been raining and I had covered the run with a tarp, so I didn't notice anything amiss when I closed up the coop at 9:30, after dark. I didn't notice that only 2 of the 4 chickens were on the roost inside the coop. Two of the chickens are 10-12 weeks old and two are 12-14 weeks. It was the two older chickens that were dead. The two younger were placid in the coop seemingly fine as always.

This morning, I found the 2 corpses. No sign of breach of the hardware cloth, no sign of entry, no sign of a scuffle in the dirt inside the run. There were feathers spread across a wide area and only one of the corpses had feathers missing; the other corpse appears pristine. I examined the corpses; no blood, no puncture wounds, no sign of trauma other than the feathers pulled out. Their waterer, which stands upright on a brick, was still standing, near both of their corpses.

What could have happened? We live in a suburban neighborhood in Virginia and I have kept chickens in this coop for 3 years and never had a death from any reason, no predator attack, ever. It is entirely encased in 1/4" hardware cloth and is reinforced at ground level.

Also, what should I do about the two chickens that are left? I understand they need at least 3 for a social group and I don't have the heart to get a new chicken and introduce it to the flock carefully and all that....


View attachment 3179457View attachment 3179458Never had a death either.

Also, what should I do about the two chickens that are left? I understand they need at least 3 for a social group and I don't have the heart to get a new chicken and introduce it to the flock carefully and all that....

I hate the agenda going on in the world with this avian flu, push, that is the same people pushing all the other agendas. I know this is a touchy subject, but not impossible , we have had here inbc Canada lots of what your showing me. My heart breaks for you…
clean everything out and spray everything with a natural organic antiseptic, I make my own.
clean all dishes and water source.
put some colloidal silver in fresh water for the remaining chickens, remove them into a temporary pen or make shift one.
make sure ground cover is soft.
i will pray for you

 

[KarynVA]

I'm 100% confident a predator didn't get in there because there is no breach; there is no fur; there is no blood; there is no disturbance of the dirt floor of the run (this photo is before we put the run in its place on the grass in the yard, with bricks all the way round at ground level. No distrubance of the bricks, no sign of entry or digging.

No puncture wounds.

 

[nuthatched]

Is the run also fully secure with wire or was the tarp the only cover? Pics required to help assess the situation fully please.

Looks like a predator issue.. NO young cockerels raised together do not fight to the death and surely not until both are dead.

Sorry for your loss.

I agree two will be fine together.

That's why I'm still waiting for pictures of the coop, I'm not sure. In my experience, chickens typically don't care if they've been raised together or not, feathers will fly if they decide they hate each other. But there's no blood...I think something lifted the coop and went after what they could reach.

 

[KarynVA]

That's why I'm still waiting for pictures of the coop, I'm not sure. In my experience, chickens typically don't care if they've been raised together or not, feathers will fly if they decide they hate each other. But there's no blood...I think something lifted the coop and went after what they could reach.

Photo of the coop at the end of page 1.

There were no bite marks, no body parts missing, ....?

 

[nuthatched]

I hate the agenda going on in the world with this avian flu, push, that is the same people pushing all the other agendas. I know this is a touchy subject, but not impossible , we have had here inbc Canada lots of what your showing me. My heart breaks for you…
clean everything out and spray everything with a natural organic antiseptic, I make my own.
clean all dishes and water source.
pit some colloidal silver in fresh water for the remaining chickens, remove them into a temporary pen or make shift one.
i will pray for you

It's clearly not a disease or a sanitation issue, nothing that happened has anything to do with what you said, but I'm sure op appreciates your warm wishes.

 

[NanaK]

If you have not disposed of the remains yet I would really reexamine the necks for very tiny punctures. Sometimes difficult to find. Weasels are very small and can get through or under very tiny spaces. A weasel could have done this and not been able to drag the bodies back out under your coop.

 

[nuthatched]

Photo of the coop at the end of page 1.

There were no bite marks, no body parts missing, ....?

If a coon could only get their hand in there, there wouldn't be. Something could have also been outside the coop and caused them to panic. It's hard to say but I'm not sure both would die in such a strange way without an exterior cause. if you want to get one more chicken you can, but they'll be fine at just two.:]

 

[KarynVA]

If you have not disposed of the remains yet I would really reexamine the necks for very tiny punctures. Sometimes difficult to find. Weasels are very small and can get through or under very tiny spaces. A weasel could have done this and not been able to drag the bodies back out under your coop.

That was our first thought, too. Using latex gloves, we carefully examined their necks beneath the feathers and saw no marks whatsoever.

Also, I agree a weasel could have gotten INTO the run area; but it could not have gotten OUT. I'm convinced of that.

 

[KarynVA]

Also, remember this would have happened during daylight hours. It was raining pretty hard most likely at the time it happened.

 

[NanaK]

I have seen many types of predators day and night. Most are opportunistic. I don't think they care what the time of day is, just that they are hungry!