This is the view I had when I was going out to the barn to do animal chores this morning:
We scared them away and this is what we found:
So the evidence suggests that 5 turkey vultures killed and ate one of our Barred Rock hens. The barn swallows are using the feathers to make their nest. That is the only positive I can find.
I wonder if the hen died and the turkey vultures then came in.
It is a possibility. We don’t know sicne we were not out there when it happened. There is another patch of feathers closer to the barn, probably where they got to her first.
yeeks! that is a spooky sight-
Yeeks is right? Do you have issues with vultures where you are?
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Wow. That is a cool picture, except for what you found when you went out there. I would guess your hen was either already dead or injured before the vultures moved in. I’ve not heard of vultures ever attacking (live, healthy) chickens, but I’m just basing that on the type of vultures (Or buzzards as we call ’em) around here. They can sure smell death a mile away (literally) and seldom are slow to show up. It will be interesting to hear if others have had this happen to them as well. Sorry about your little bunny Rocky too. You’ve lost so many of your ‘old folks’ that I know it has to be difficult.
Tammy
Thanks Tammy! I thought it was creepy from the beginning. We have lots of problems with eagles eating our chickens and we have seen the vultures flying around a lot but this is the first time we know if them eating a chicken. And I appreciate the thoughts on our animals dying. It is starting to get tiresome. Hopefully it will slow down now.
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I’m sorry you had to find that–and yes, I don’t think turkey vultures generally kill things but they will definitely take advantage of someone else’s kill.
Thanks Mary Ann! I am glad to hear they probably weren’t the killers. Not sure why a bald eagle would leave a chicken carcass behind. Usually they finish it off themselves.
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WoW – you’ve had a bad spell there – sorry to hear about Vanessa and Rocky the Rabbit – and the problems at work, but like your mom said – you’ve helped so many babies (and animals)
We lost our last two chickens during that last cold spell – they were pretty old – maybe 12 or more years old – they had a pretty good run.
All the sheep are wormed and vaccinated now – and the two little boys that he’s not going to keep were banded last weekend. It is absolutely astonishing how fast they are growing this year – at least it seems faster than before.
Take care – See you in June in Eugene? T.
Thanks Tina! Things should get better. See you in Eugene.
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