Why was there a dead rat in my nest box

[fat brown hen]

There's a rain barrel nest box in my turkey pen. The turkey hens have never used it, but I leave it there so they can't complain about not having a nest.

Today I noticed some chicken eggs in the barrel. Chickens sometimes sneak into the turkey hut. I got on all fours, crawled into the barrel and grabbed the eggs. They were covered with yolk and shell bits, so I crawled back in the barrel for the soiled nesting material. It was all at the back; I hugged as much bedding as I could in my arms and carried it into the yard. The chickens scratched through the bedding for leftover egg yolk, and as they pulled it apart I noticed a large fuzzy thing. At first I thought it was a dead bird; upon closer inspection it was a flattened rodent, belly up. Either a small rat or a large mouse, not sure because it was fully flat.

How did a dead rodent get into my nest box?

 

[Callender Girl]

Well, that's more than a little horrifying. I was upset yesterday when I found a partially eaten bunny in the hay shed nest where my ducks like to lay eggs, but your discovery tops mine.

Although I know it's a bad idea to speculate on topics without solid facts to back up assertions, here are a couple of my thoughts -- please take with a grain of salt.

IF it was a mouse, I might think the chickens killed it -- although mine would have eaten it, if that was the case. Maybe the rodent had been injured or poisoned elsewhere and crawled into a "safe" place to die? A rat once tripped one of my spring traps, managed to free itself but then wandered a good distance away before dying.

In any case, sorry for your experience.