A grandfather was killed by a violent chicken after being found bleeding out at his home last year, an inquest has found.
Jasper Kraus, 67, who was originally from The Hague, Netherlands, and was living near Ballinasloe in Ireland at the time, died on April 28, 2022, after being attacked by a Brahma chicken.
The grandfather, who had previously survived cancer, had lost several liters of blood after the bird drove its spur into his leg, which in turn caused a heart attack.
He was found in a pool of blood and was able to whisper "rooster" as he drifted in and out of consciousness, the Daily Mail reports.
Kraus's lodger Corey O'Keeffe, who'd lived with him and looked after the animals, had been the one to raise the alarm. He had returned home from a night shift at 8:00 AM and said hello to Kraus before feeding the animals and heading to bed.
The inquest heard that O'Keeffe was woken up not long after by Kraus shouting "come quick", and performed CPR on him for 25 minutes until paramedics arrived.
Kraus's daughter Virginia Guinan, 33, had told the inquest she had raced to the house to find police and ambulance crews already in attendance, per the Irish Mirror.
She told the inquest that she had followed the trail of blood to the Brahma chicken and had found its claws were also covered in blood.
Guinan added that the chicken had a history of violent behavior, having previously attacked her daughter, and had told her father to get rid of it - but, being an animal lover, he had wanted to keep it.
"My dad protested – he had too big of a heart and didn't want me to get rid of the rooster, so dad took it instead," she explained.
O'Keeffe said in evidence that he had seen blood coming out of Kraus's leg and noticed a large wound in his calf as well as scratches on the other leg.
He said that Kraus was able to whisper "rooster" while drifting in and out of consciousness, before suffering a heart attack from the loss of blood. It is believed he had gone out to visit his dog's grave when the chicken attacked him.
Dr Annette Jennings said in a deposition read out at the hearing that paramedics were attempting to resuscitate Kraus when she arrived at the scene, and that the man was pronounced dead at 3:24 PM, and noted that the circumstances surrounding the death were unusual due to the injuries having been inflicted by a chicken.
The autopsy was carried out by Dr Ramadan Shatwan, who noted that as well as the lower limbs being covered in dried blood, Kraus's face also had dried blood on it, but found no cuts on his face.
The cause of death was ruled to be partly down to cardiac arrhythmia in the context of severe coronary atheroma [a buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries] and cardiomegaly [an enlarged heart].
Guinan said the family knew her father's heart "was bad", with the coroner noting his heart was "severely calcified".
Although being killed by a chicken is very rare - with Kraus thought to be one of just a few people in the world to die this way - Guinan also wanted to use the inquest to warn others of the dangers of owning chickens, even if they are considered a "safe" breed such as the Brahma.
"People should be aware of the signs and get rid of any bird as soon as they show signs of aggression,' she told the inquest, via The Mirror.
