Savingdogs-Saving the chickens
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AnnaRaven
Lovin' The Homestead
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So sorry for your losses! 
lorihadams
Always doing laundry
Oh no....raccoons will climb stuff so if there was a way in over the top it could have happened. Owls will do that too...I had a neighbor that caught an owl in her henhouse and she said it was just awful.
I'm soooo sorry honey...I've woken up to a chicken massacre before and it is definitely heartbreaking....
I'm soooo sorry honey...I've woken up to a chicken massacre before and it is definitely heartbreaking....
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savingdogs
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Do you think coons can climb chain link? The weird thing would be that they never did before. We have the standard dog kennel height fencing around most of it, but there is a low part that is about six feet. There is no place to grab a foothold there however, but coons are all around us, we see evidence of them being here all the time, whereas we have only once seen an owl (I think it was a spotted one!) and we only saw one bobcat.
Coons, however, we commonly see. I thought they were known for just eating the head off the chicken?
I think I feel the worst that Unpretty sat there half eaten, that was hard to see, that she was still alive. And by the way, she wasn't an Unpretty chicken, she was a beautiful Russian Orloff. Her sister was named Pretty so she wasn't her, she was "unpretty".
Orloffs have to grow on you, they are odd looking. I feel bad for the remaining orloff, Unpretty was her everlasting companion. She looks a little lost still today. She hasn't been laying, she has been molting and now she is missing all her tail feathers too. She is just a tiny thing under all the feathers.
Coons, however, we commonly see. I thought they were known for just eating the head off the chicken?
I think I feel the worst that Unpretty sat there half eaten, that was hard to see, that she was still alive. And by the way, she wasn't an Unpretty chicken, she was a beautiful Russian Orloff. Her sister was named Pretty so she wasn't her, she was "unpretty".
Orloffs have to grow on you, they are odd looking. I feel bad for the remaining orloff, Unpretty was her everlasting companion. She looks a little lost still today. She hasn't been laying, she has been molting and now she is missing all her tail feathers too. She is just a tiny thing under all the feathers.
lorihadams
Always doing laundry
We had something get in our chain link run and kill 10 birds in one night but we thought it was a weasel cause the jugulars were bitten and then left for dead. We had a raccoon living in one of our tree stands last year that we had to chase off so yes, they can climb quite well. If they were hungry enough then it could have been a coon or it may have been more than one thing. We had 2 bodies during the massacre that were dragged up to the fence and then it looks like something tried to pull them through the chain link and eat on them. I don't know. Granny said weasel and then the coons came to clean up and possibly a possum tried to get in on the mix as well. 
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savingdogs
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That is a good point, perhaps I have two predators, not just one. I do think an owl had to have done it to Unpretty. What got the one under the coop is still a mystery. But the cage on top of the pen fixes it either way because then I can contain all of them. My chickens have gotten to be bad about returning to the coop at night, I think because that was the scene of the carnage.
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savingdogs
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Well Hubby and the boys got the chicken wire roof about 1/2 way done. I told them they are making an aviary. I'm pretty short so it made me fairly useless to help, plus I was feeling a little dizzy. Trouble caught the three chickens which had not been rounded up the night last night. Man, were they ever scared of us. They have not been handled in awhile. We were laughing at the fuss they made being carried into the coop. The chickens inside the coop are very calm now, I hope they are learning that the coop is an okay place to be again. I had absolutely NO eggs, but the coop doesn't have light right now and with the door closed, they must be thinking they are having a long night! 
But I think I need to re acclimate them to the coop. I'm pretty sure now that the predator got inside the pen and went into the coop. Of my 18 remaining chickens, 10 are pullets about to start laying, so I want them to learn to feel the coop is a safe place. Tuesday is Hubby's birthday so we will see if he gets around to finishing it today, I think probably not.
I turned over a small patch of dirt yesterday and was shocked how tired out I got. I can tell this will be a long project for me, I can't do very much at a time anymore. But I'd really like to get that area seeded while we have this warm spell and before the deluge hits us for the fall. Pretty soon it will just start raining and not stop for about nine months.
I keep waking up in the middle of the night whenever the light gets turned on by one of the goats moving around outside. I keep thinking something is out there again!
But I think I need to re acclimate them to the coop. I'm pretty sure now that the predator got inside the pen and went into the coop. Of my 18 remaining chickens, 10 are pullets about to start laying, so I want them to learn to feel the coop is a safe place. Tuesday is Hubby's birthday so we will see if he gets around to finishing it today, I think probably not. I turned over a small patch of dirt yesterday and was shocked how tired out I got. I can tell this will be a long project for me, I can't do very much at a time anymore. But I'd really like to get that area seeded while we have this warm spell and before the deluge hits us for the fall. Pretty soon it will just start raining and not stop for about nine months.
I keep waking up in the middle of the night whenever the light gets turned on by one of the goats moving around outside. I keep thinking something is out there again!
FarmerJamie
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Keep plugging away...you'll get it done. After a predator attack, every noise outside makes you jump.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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savingdogs
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Well nothing was attacked overnight! whew!
I've got a nice dinner planned for Hubby tonight, it is his birthday. I'm going to make Au Grautin potatoes from the garden potatoes, I have some of his favorite german sausage and some asparagus w/ hollandaise. We will top that off with strawberry cake, his favorite. I better save up all my calories for dinner.
Well the new foster dog never arrived.....the owner stopped returning our calls. I hope she did not give the dog away to someone else (that is against our rules, we make people agree to give the dogs back to us if they don't work out). Or perhaps they are working things out. She was supposed to be a return for house destruction so I wasn't particularly anxious to deal with that, although I guess it was mostly just housetraining.
Well I'm off to bake a cake and get some more yard turned over for seeding.....I'm trying to work in short spurts, we are having weird weather and it is making my ear issues flare up.
I'm falling in love with this darned kitten Samantha....she is such a little sprite. She won't come right over to you but if you sit down and ignore her she comes over for lovin'. Then she goes overboard, drooling and "kneading" me and giving constant kisses. But if you put her down again, she scampers off, back arched as she bounds away. All of our personal cats are old, so this little one adds a little flavor to the cat mix. Our two males generally ignore her and our older female, Smidgen, feels it her duty to show the kitten when she gets out of line. Smidgen is a very small but very ROUND cat and the kitten Samantha is already approaching her size. Smidgen had better watch herself!
I've got a nice dinner planned for Hubby tonight, it is his birthday. I'm going to make Au Grautin potatoes from the garden potatoes, I have some of his favorite german sausage and some asparagus w/ hollandaise. We will top that off with strawberry cake, his favorite. I better save up all my calories for dinner.
Well the new foster dog never arrived.....the owner stopped returning our calls. I hope she did not give the dog away to someone else (that is against our rules, we make people agree to give the dogs back to us if they don't work out). Or perhaps they are working things out. She was supposed to be a return for house destruction so I wasn't particularly anxious to deal with that, although I guess it was mostly just housetraining.
Well I'm off to bake a cake and get some more yard turned over for seeding.....I'm trying to work in short spurts, we are having weird weather and it is making my ear issues flare up.
I'm falling in love with this darned kitten Samantha....she is such a little sprite. She won't come right over to you but if you sit down and ignore her she comes over for lovin'. Then she goes overboard, drooling and "kneading" me and giving constant kisses. But if you put her down again, she scampers off, back arched as she bounds away. All of our personal cats are old, so this little one adds a little flavor to the cat mix. Our two males generally ignore her and our older female, Smidgen, feels it her duty to show the kitten when she gets out of line. Smidgen is a very small but very ROUND cat and the kitten Samantha is already approaching her size. Smidgen had better watch herself!
