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I have a small backyard flock, now consisting of 8 chickens of mixed breeds, Araucana and Barred Rocks, and a mix of the two. They are less than a year old. I dont know the exact age, because I got them from a farmer with too many chickens.
I also had a Rhode Island Red and a Laced Wyandotte. They were about 4 months old.
I have had them for about 3 weeks now. They live in a nice shed with a 12X6' fenced area outside. I feed them layer mash, supplemented with veggies, fruit, and I even found a huge ant nest that I scooped out and fed to them.
3 mornings ago, I went outside to feed them, and I found that my Wyandotte was dead, and the Araucanas were eating her. Her face and throat had been ripped off.
I didnt find any evidence that the coop had been broken into by a wild animal.
The next morning, about 2 am, I heard the chickens squawking. I thought for sure something had broken in. I went out, and found my little Red was sitting there, alive, but half of her face had been ripped off. She died shortly after. All of the chickens were running around, so I dont know which one did this.
I dont know what to do! I dont know which chicken is doing this. Why would a chicken become cannibalistic like this? I have seen chickens peck each other, pull feathers, but nothing so grim like this.
If anyone has any answers or suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks!!
Can you set up a cam corder?
I know some chickens do attack and are cannabilistic, but I don't know anything about breeds of chickens.
Can you possibly make wire dividers to separate some of them?
I think I would start by separating the breeds.
I had an Araucana rooster, it was the meanest chicken I have ever seen. It would attack my wife when she went to get eggs. It attacked a friend of mine's little girl and scratched her. He attacked me once , just once. He's no longer with us. I love chicken and dumplings. Maybe they are having a turf war.
I would bet money it is a weasel or an ermine. There would be no sign of them. They are small and thin and could easily take out a small chicken. The other chickens would eat the dead body but I can't see them killing the chicken, unless it was over zealous rooster attempting to mate (they hold the hen by the back of the head) Does it happen at night? You could set live traps, I don't know what bait for ermines/weasels.
Oh and be careful about the layer mix food, some brands are toxic to other animals like horses, dogs and people.
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