Strange Incident and Unusual Feathers

[Kale Chips]

Hi! So I got up the other day to let the chickens out, and on my way I almost stepped right into a pile of intestines. I totally jumped, and as I distanced myself from it, I saw feathers dotting the ground. My heart got caught in my throat as I sprinted to my coop. I whipped open the door to find all 8 of my chickens startled to see me so frazzled. I must have counted 3 times, just to make sure. My neighbor also has a bunch of chickens, and so I kinda figured it must have been one of hers. Well, we checked and it wasn't. So why on earth was there a huge pile (the size of a large dinner plate) of intestines on our lawn? What kind of feathers are these? Was the bird attacked or was it attacking?

 

[townchicks]

Just intestines, and a few feathers? That doesn't sound like an animal attack, honestly. Do you live in an area where there is hunting? (legally or not)

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

The intestine sound to big to be from a chicken. Do you have birds that color? Could be something had its dinner in your yard and a mouse passing by with loose feather is collected stopped by to dine on the leftovers and forgot its feathers. I would definitely be cautious of your birds though because there is something killing in your yard. I have a cleaning mouse... it goes into my coop at night and collects feathers and leaves them on the step outside the coop. It's a weird little thing.

 

[Kale Chips]

That is exactly why it was so baffling. There was no blood or meat, literally just a large pile of intestines. And I have a speckled sussex, but its feathers really aren't that color. I live 10 minutes away from a small town, and we have an acre of land. We know all our neighbors and it really isn't something someone would just dump there...but I guess I don't know what else it could have been! There is some wooded land on the next property over, but the people who live there don't have time to hunt. Our cat escaped a few weeks ago and came back with an injury, so he must have had a squabble with some kind of animal. So far we haven't 'seen' any predators, but a while back the neighbors lost a chicken to a fox. I don't really know


My speckled for color comparison:

 

[townchicks]

It's just that most animals ( to my knowledge) don't remove the intestines and then carry off the body. If they had started eating and then ran off with the rest of it, you would think there would be blood all over. Are you close to a road? Do you think someone could have hit some kind of bird, wild turkey or pheasant perhaps, and decided to salvage it, and cleaned out the intestines on the spot? Just can't get past an intact pile of intestines being left behind, without blood and a lot of feathers around. Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't your or your neighbors chicken. Maybe set up a game camera, if it was an animal, it will likely return.

 

[Kale Chips]

It's just that most animals ( to my knowledge) don't remove the intestines and then carry off the body. If they had started eating and then ran off with the rest of it, you would think there would be blood all over. Are you close to a road? Do you think someone could have hit some kind of bird, wild turkey or pheasant perhaps, and decided to salvage it, and cleaned out the intestines on the spot? Just can't get past an intact pile of intestines being left behind, without blood and a lot of feathers around. Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't your or your neighbors chicken. Maybe set up a game camera, if it was an animal, it will likely return.

We are indeed on the corner of a busy intersection, so I guess someone could have dumped it. Why on earth someone feels the need to chuck an entire pile of guts into our lawn is beyond me, but I think I will start securing my chickens more securely, and maybe try to get a camera going! Thanks for the input!

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

You might consider putting a game cam out. Then you'll have an idea of what's prowling around. Its October... could be a nasty prank too.

 

[Kale Chips]

You might consider putting a game cam out. Then you'll have an idea of what's prowling around. Its October... could be a nasty prank too.

Yuk! I suppose that's possible too!

 

[Mimi13]

The feather looks like it belongs to some breed of barred chicken. My thoughts are along the same lines as some others that the intestines came from a bird that had been butchered and the offal was tossed somewhere close to your house and drug into your yard by a passing animal. The prior killing of the animal would account for there being minimal or no blood and also for the random feather if indeed it was a barred chicken that was slaughtered.

 

[Chickassan]

Maybe an Owl left them, they sometimes won't eat the intestines. Seems to be mosty barn owls that will leave those behind. Some hawks don't eat them either.