View Full Version : My depressing farming moment
I've been following the depressing garden thread, I feel your pain.
I've been a little blue lately and than today I came home from the store to find my one broody hen had been dragged off the nest and killed in the chicken yard. So upset.
I started some buff Orpingtons as day olds two years ago with the hope of hatching out some eggs with one of them if one went broody.
A couple of weeks ago I was so excited to find one had gone broody and ordered some hatching eggs that would have arrived next week.
Never had a predator get into my coop before, so upset it happened now...and to her.
Farming fail. :(
Sorry to hear this and it is so disheartening to have it happen.
So sorry TMC. I had a coon kill 2 of my hens several years ago, and I was very sad. I thought I had the Fort Knox of runs, but a coon found the one weak spot. I've since fixed that.
Could you maybe get an incubator for the eggs?
Well, last night was exciting around here. I kept my bedroom window open to listen for the chickens. At 2:30 am the chickens started yelling.....it sounded like this:
"HELP, IN THE COOP!!", in their squawking chicken voices.
I woke up DH, he grabbed the gun and went outside.....I hear, ...... BANG......BANG.......BANG.....Bring more bullets!
OMG! What the heck is out there!
So I put on some boots and run out to him with more bullets, he had already killed two racoons, another one was scrambling to get back out of the coop, feathers hanging out of his mouth, and he couldn't figure out how to get out the way he came in. Than DH gun gets jammed, he runs inside to fix it and tells me to keep an eye on the 'coon....., we don't even know how many are out there.
So it turns out there was a whole family of racoons inside my coop, but I didn't lose any chickens last night.
We have temporarily tightened up security in the coop and tomorrow have plans with ten bags of concrete and hardware cloth to create Fort Knox. 5 years of chickens and this is my first infiltration.
Coons are really multiplying around here as well. A neighbour is finding them in his barn on a regular basis but, I think, the dog food attracts them. Very annoying!
Good job in getting them under control.
Gardenarian
7-7-14, 12:48pm
Oh no! This is why I am afraid to keep chickens. It was so upsetting when the raccoons ate all my Koi.
I hope you are able to keep them away. Once they find a source of food, they just keep coming back, little beasties.
Oh no! This is why I am afraid to keep chickens. It was so upsetting when the raccoons ate all my Koi.
I hope you are able to keep them away. Once they find a source of food, they just keep coming back, little beasties.
They ate your Koi? Wow, I had no idea they would do that.
We think we have cleaned the whole group of raccoons out and DH just finished tightening up security.
I really feel that if you can't handle your chickens getting killed (hahaha.........I accidentally wrote "children").........you have to build the best, most secure coop/run possible. I know some people who free-range their chickens, and they're okay if they get killed. I couldn't do that.
I'm glad you tightened up your security.......but there will be more predators, and coons are so very smart.....they WILL find the weakest area to get into. And......if your fencing has larger spaces, they will reach into the run, grab the chickens head, and tear it off..........so be sure you have small spaces in your wire. We have utility wire with 1/2" hardware cloth over that. I used to have 2 types of netting on the top of the run, but the danged coon got in, so now was have utility wire over the top of that too.
I don't like killing things. As much as I dislike coons, they are only trying to survive too. So I really try to secure things, so I don't have to hate them. :)
The Storyteller
7-11-14, 8:10am
With three good livestock guardian dogs, I don't even lock up my turkeys, broilers, or layers any more, and we have coons, possums, coyotes and even bobcats around here.
There are softer targets elsewhere. When I do find the occasional evidence of a predator, it's a dead one.
Blackdog Lin
7-14-14, 10:01pm
TMC - bummer. Sorry for your loss of a good hen. And very exciting story re: the 'coons.
I smile to think of your looking forward to having a broody hen. In the opposite direction, DH has been fighting a broody hen for weeks (we don't have the equipment, or the desire to spend money on same, for hatching chicks), checking on the nesting boxes 3 times a day and yelling at her and banging on her nesting box and whatall. It's becoming comical.
LOL Blackdog Lin! With my 17 hens, I only had one that was broody for a very short time, fortunately. There's a chicken forum called "Backyard Chickens". It has tons of info on there, so you might check it out for some solutions. Have you tried just explaining to her that there are no eggs/babies? :)
Coon herd attack happened to us once. It was horrible with little Cornish chicken bodies laying everywhere.
We also had a bear try to get into the coop once...that time we'd only run out and grabbed rakes that I'd left on the back porch.
Coons kill just to kill. I thought I had the Fort Knox of a coop and a run. It was a couple years ago. DH and I were watching a movie inside. I had thought of going out to close up the chickens, but it was still pretty light out, and I looked out and they were fine. About 20 minutes after the movie was over, I walked out to the coop.........but I heard much more squawking than usual. As I got closer to the coop, I could see 2 chickens (Hawk and Pepperanne) laying on the ground, dead. I ran into the coop and nothing was there, except the rest of the hens were on the top rung of the roost, and some were under the nestbox, facing the back wall. I didn't know what to think. I ran back out to the run, and there was a coon, just squeezing out of the top of the run. If it had been closer, I'm afraid I would have killed it with my bare hands............but it's probably best I didn't.
I was so distraught. These are my pets. We buried the 2 hens, and dammit......the next day I went to their grave, and they had been taken.
We bought more fencing for the top of the run (instead of just 2 layers of netting), and did alot of securing. I still feel really bad about it. I feel like I let them down. That's why I could never let them free-range.
Curious thing.......this was in June, and the girls (hens) didn't lay any eggs for several months, and really acted like they had PTSD.
The Storyteller
7-18-14, 6:53pm
With three good livestock guardian dogs, I don't even lock up my turkeys, broilers, or layers any more, and we have coons, possums, coyotes and even bobcats around here.
There are softer targets elsewhere. When I do find the occasional evidence of a predator, it's a dead one.
Well, I spoke too soon. Coyotes are a resourceful lot. Apparently a large pack split up and drew my big Pyr off, and the rest of the pack overwhelmed the relatively smaller females. Lost 12 large turkeys in one night and 6 Cornish cross ready for processing, several hundred dollars worth of stock. Boy do I feel stupid. That's what I get for getting cocky, I guess. Poor birds.
The electronetting is now in place running 12,000+ volts, and another trained big male (Anatolian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix) is due to arrive on the property this weekend.
Hopefully, that will do it.
Oh Storyteller.........so sorry to hear this! :(
Hopefully it will never happen again.
Well, I spoke too soon. Coyotes are a resourceful lot. Apparently a large pack split up and drew my big Pyr off, and the rest of the pack overwhelmed the relatively smaller females. Lost 12 large turkeys in one night and 6 Cornish cross ready for processing, several hundred dollars worth of stock. Boy do I feel stupid. That's what I get for getting cocky, I guess. Poor birds.
The electronetting is now in place running 12,000+ volts, and another trained big male (Anatolian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix) is due to arrive on the property this weekend.
Hopefully, that will do it.
I am truly so sorry.
The Storyteller
7-20-14, 2:38pm
Problem solved.
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1429&d=1405877197
Boudreaux. 140 pounds of trained coyote deterrent, great backup for the big dog. Potential for a great team here.
Provided they can learn to get along. Both alphas, both highly protective. Right now they are very wary of each other and mostly playing at avoidance. Fortunately they listen to me. Here's hoping.
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