When I went out to gather eggs today I thought I'd lost one of my hens to the heat...she was laying crumpled below the nesting boxes and wasn't yet completely stiff. Two other hens were in the coop as well and were panting but otherwise not upset. (I've been planning on getting a fan out there as soon as I can get someone to wire it for me) I drove the other two hens out into the run with the rest of the flock...it is heavily shaded and I have a sprinkler set up over half of it to help keep the birds cool. Anyway, when I moved the dead hen I saw that she didn't have a head! There were no feathers scattered, no blood, and a search of the run and coop didn't turn up any critters. I checked and there were no holes in the fence, nor had anything managed to dig underneath. She was in the middle of the coop so whatever got her had to be inside the coop with her. I've had to kill an oppossum a year or so ago but other than that the dogs keep all predators away from the chickens' area. Does anyone know what could have done this? I'm pretty sure her head idn't just fall off on its own!
