Cannibals. No, really, the chickens are cannibals.

Some may find this post graphic.  I tried keeping the photos beyond the "read more" link -- but it is not working.  If you don't want to see the photos, don't go any further!


A couple of days ago I noticed a big clump of red feathers in the hen pen.  It's not unusual to see a single feather or two, they are shed or hens get in a tussle and you end up with a feather or two.  But this was a clump and clearly from a bigger altercation.  I did not see any sign of trouble within the flock, though, so I forgot about it.

Sadly, when I got home today, I found the end result.
When I came into the coop this evening the chickens were all clucking and running around like usual. But as I scanned the pen floor I saw this.

It did not immediately register for me what I was looking at.  Was it an even larger clump of feathers?  But then I saw the ribcage and realized it was the hollowed-out carcass of one of my chickens.

I have been a vegetarian for twenty years, but there was a time in my adult life when I cooked stuffed turkey, so I was not entirely unfamiliar with the anatomy.  There was nothing, however, that looked like it should be in a little plastic bag.  This hen was hollow.  See?

I am puzzled now, trying to figure out whether the hen was weak and died, being subsequently eaten, or if something other than a chicken killed her (which would mean a critter was inside my barn, not a happy thought).  After I disposed of her carcass I went back and inventoried the hens left.  They are all there.  This was a Rhode Island Red I got in 2006, so she wasn't exactly a "spring chicken".

We had exceptionally bad weather last week and they were cooped up together inside for a couple of days.  Their radio died, too, so maybe they just got really bored?  But the past few days they have been allowed outside again.  I would be grateful for any ideas other chicken-keepers might have about what happened.