I am at a loss here. We just found our second dead bird this week. First was a banty brahma and then a mallard drake.
We had 5 ducks (1 Cayuga, 2 Mallards and 2 mixed breeds) and 13 chickens (several different breeds, mostly banties) when we moved last week. Our new residence has a small barn that used to house horses. It has a few small stalls on one side and the rest is open. It has a dirt floor and there is straw everywhere. We checked the outside of the barn when we moved in and covered the few small holes we found. The sides and roof are free of holes. We leave the barn open during the day and close it up at night.
A couple of days ago the kids found our little banty brahma dead in the barn when they went out in the morning to feed the birds. Poor little thing had a hole in her abdomen and her innards were missing. The other birds were fine. We looked all around the barn and didn't find any holes or signs of digging around the barn.
Jacob just came in from the barn where he found our mallard drake dead (he was alive this morning). It looked like something had tried getting his abdomen but hadn't gotten his innards. Again, no sign of holes or digging around the barn.
Our neighbors have birds that free range and their birds have not been bothered. After Ding Dong the brahma was killed I wondered if the other chickens could be the perpetrators. I'd seen a couple of them pick on her a little but nothing that I was overly concerned about. I consider the Cayuga to be a brat but I've only seen him go after our SF cockerel. Now with the mallard gone I'm really worried. Would chickens do this or do I have a different problem on my hands? These are our pets and I want to make sure they are safe. We are heading into 4H time and will be adding turkeys and other market birds to the mix so I want to get a handle on this asap. I appreciate any thoughts/advice.
We had 5 ducks (1 Cayuga, 2 Mallards and 2 mixed breeds) and 13 chickens (several different breeds, mostly banties) when we moved last week. Our new residence has a small barn that used to house horses. It has a few small stalls on one side and the rest is open. It has a dirt floor and there is straw everywhere. We checked the outside of the barn when we moved in and covered the few small holes we found. The sides and roof are free of holes. We leave the barn open during the day and close it up at night.
A couple of days ago the kids found our little banty brahma dead in the barn when they went out in the morning to feed the birds. Poor little thing had a hole in her abdomen and her innards were missing. The other birds were fine. We looked all around the barn and didn't find any holes or signs of digging around the barn.
Jacob just came in from the barn where he found our mallard drake dead (he was alive this morning). It looked like something had tried getting his abdomen but hadn't gotten his innards. Again, no sign of holes or digging around the barn.
Our neighbors have birds that free range and their birds have not been bothered. After Ding Dong the brahma was killed I wondered if the other chickens could be the perpetrators. I'd seen a couple of them pick on her a little but nothing that I was overly concerned about. I consider the Cayuga to be a brat but I've only seen him go after our SF cockerel. Now with the mallard gone I'm really worried. Would chickens do this or do I have a different problem on my hands? These are our pets and I want to make sure they are safe. We are heading into 4H time and will be adding turkeys and other market birds to the mix so I want to get a handle on this asap. I appreciate any thoughts/advice.
