Tortoise and hens: whodunnit?

[Jasmine]

My huge desert tortoise Kobe lives with my 20 or so hens in a large enclosure in my yard. We were away for the weekend and my friend Bernie was keeping an eye on them all. On Saturday she found a dead hen in the yard, and on Sunday she found another, this time crushed under Kobe. She firmly believes Kobe killed them. I don't...surely hens could run away from a tortoise (!). I think they probably got ill and died (it happens occasionally) or the hawk that lives in the tree above them (and is nesting) had a go at them but they were too big for him to carry away. The hawk has got at baby chicks (we now have a special shelter for those) and an injured dove. Any ideas? (By the way I live in Ghana)

 

[JoesMum]

I think it's very unlikely indeed that a tortoise killed your chickens. Chickens may not the most intelligent but they will get out of the way.

I wouldn't keep chickens in with a tort as torts have a taste for poop and eating chicken poop is a good way of your tort picking up gut parasites

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Welcome.
I seem to remember a story/post last year that reported of a Sulcata tortoise killing birds.
I wonder if a D.T. would behave the same way?

 

[tortdad]

I don't see how a tortoise can kill a bird

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Does @Yvonne G or @Cowboy_Ken recall the story of Sulcatas in the wild being observed killing birds.
For the life of me, I can't recall who posted it. It's been a while.
Maybe it's early onset senility.....
I just Googled and found that Galopagos (spelling)tortoises kill and eat birds. But I have no time for other checking.

 

[wellington]

I don't think the tort did it either. @ZEROPILOT I remember posts about tortoises eating dead birds, but I don't remember about killing them. Don't think they could unless the bird was already injured and couldn't get away.
Anyway, I agree with JoesMum the tort and chickens should not live together.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

http://aboutgalapagos.nathab.com/blog/four-fascinating-galapagos-giant-tortoise-facts/
This is just one of the articles About tortoises killing birds.
Does it apply to CDT, I do not know.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

https://tortoise.org/dfriend_sulcata.pdf
This story reports of Sulcatas sneaking up on and eating Gophers, mice and birds.
But it is not the link that I was remembering.

 

[Jasmine]

I can't bear the idea of Kobe killing hens! Noooo, there must be another explanation! Thanks to you all.

 

[Yvonne G]

Does @Yvonne G or @Cowboy_Ken recall the story of Sulcatas in the wild being observed killing birds.
For the life of me, I can't recall who posted it. It's been a while.
Maybe it's early onset senility.....
I just Googled and found that Galopagos (spelling)tortoises kill and eat birds. But I have no time for other checking.

No, that was Aldabran or galops tortoises. They stand on the beach real tall and when a sea gull goes under them for the shade, the quickly pull in their legs squishing the bird then eating it.

 

[Yvonne G]

My huge desert tortoise Kobe lives with my 20 or so hens in a large enclosure in my yard. We were away for the weekend and my friend Bernie was keeping an eye on them all. On Saturday she found a dead hen in the yard, and on Sunday she found another, this time crushed under Kobe. She firmly believes Kobe killed them. I don't...surely hens could run away from a tortoise (!). I think they probably got ill and died (it happens occasionally) or the hawk that lives in the tree above them (and is nesting) had a go at them but they were too big for him to carry away. The hawk has got at baby chicks (we now have a special shelter for those) and an injured dove. Any ideas? (By the way I live in Ghana)

Hi Jasmine, and welcome!! I think, to avoid confusion, you should call your tortoise a sulcata instead of a desert tortoise. When we talk about desert tortoises here on the Forum, we are talking about tortoises native to the Mojave and Sonora deserts.

It's not unreasonable to think your large tortoise killed the chicken.