I agree with Frank and Celie, but the first thing I would have noted was temp of the dead bird. Was it still warm as if it had just died? Was the chicken still limp or had rigor set in?
As previously stated young toms will mate whatever is handy. I had a pullet die and had set it on top of the lawn mover with the intent to start a fire and dispose of it. I ended up having some customers show up and while I was busy with them the turkeys all came down the hill to see what I was doing. In the melay that can only be 50+ turkeys of which only 12 were female, the chicken got knocked onto the ground. And wouldn't you know it every single tom/jake attempted to mate her. They also would take turns on a big sponge my husband left outside, and now no longer wants.
All our birds are free ranged, but there is a distance of around 800 yards between the chickens and turkeys, ducks, and geese. Occasionally they intermingle on their own, but usually it's because one group or the other feels I may have something they want. So where ever I am they all need to congregate. There are the occasional spats, but never anything that draws blood. I raise my meat chickens up the hill near where the turkeys are and have never had any issues. Well almost none. My Broad Breasted pet girls think the babies are all theirs and want to take care of them. Although they are 40 and 50 lbs and could keep a lot of babies warm, I'm afraid of how many they would squish with each step. It is funny to watch them start grabbing chicks and tucking them up under their wings though.
