Salop Chuck Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 A couple of days ago, something attracted my attention to the garden because all the wild bird flew away and my hens dived into the bushes. When I went out one of my buff rock bantams came out and seemed to have acquired blood stained feathers at the back of her neck and down her back. When I examined her there was no obvious injury and the skin had not been broken. I am a bit bemused by this since bullying by the other hens was ruled out . I have two thoughts on this 1. She killed and ate a small bird causing its blood to splatter over the back of her head or 2. A male Sparrowhawk attacked her but decided she was too big to carry off and abandoned her. I have recently seen at least three Starlings taken my a male sparrowhawk within a few feet of my house. I would be interested to know if anyone else had had unexplained events happened to their hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Yea I had a call from my husband a while back to say that one of or foster ex batts was covered in blood so he had hooked her out and put her in a box in the kitchen but when I got home and examined here there were no injuries at all! We never got to the bottom if it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salop Chuck Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 Hi Redwing I watched Lottie (Buff Rock bantam) for a while after the event to see what the other hens in the flock did to her on seeing the blood on her but surprisingly none of them took a blind bit of notice even though they definitely saw the blood stains. Who knows what hens get up to when our backs are turned. Last Autumn, Connie (a Light Sussex), must have killed a sparrow that had come down to the ground to feed. There were blood spatters all over the patio covering quite a wide area. I even traced her tracks back to the coop were I discovered further blood stains. Not a trace of the sparrow anywhere so she must have eaten the entire bird . I never heard a thing. Dinosaur instincts showing themselves I think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
