dang, lost 30 chickens last night - Page 2

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - dang, lost 30 chickens last night (Page 2 of 2)

Posted: 4/18/2010 8:42:34 AM EDT

[#1]

a poor old chicken ain't got a chance. i live in the woods, tried game chickens thinking that they would be o.k. as they roost high up in trees at night. nope.. owls and bobcats will thin them right out at night. coons are PROBABLY the biggest threat at night. if your chickens were gone, it was PROBABLY some coons,[ they will climb right over a fence,, got to have a sealed top], dead bodies there it's mink, martin, or ferrot as they can get into anything. it is a lot less troublesome to fold wire in half, 90* angles, and place at bottom of coop. that will stop any digging in, and you can nail tin roofing all around perimeter to keep out chicken snakes, which are not as common as once. if you coon-proof your coop, it will stop other predaters as well. of course, you have to close a gate on them everynight after they roost.. a few big yard-dogs that won't bother chickens will keep coyotes [and others] away at daytime. you obviously need a top on the pen, for owls and daytime hawks. a big rooster can spot a hawk miles away, and if you can get some crows coming to eat a little of the chicken-feed/cracked corn you wide-spread in yard, they are the very best "early alarm" system money [read a handful of corn] can buy. a hawk can't hide from a sharp-eyed crow, and they will pack up and run them out of the county. good luck, enjoy your chickens, i like fooling with them too.

Posted: 4/18/2010 8:44:25 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:

a dead local cat in the woods behind the house. Something had brutally murdered it

LOLWUT? Murder is the name given to a crime committed by a human against another human. The cat was simply killed.

Posted: 4/18/2010 8:44:32 AM EDT

[#3]

damn, I thought you were going to post some awesome bbq pictures from last night.

Posted: 4/18/2010 8:47:21 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
damn, I thought you were going to post some awesome bbq pictures from last night.

OP no.....his neighbor....yes

Posted: 4/18/2010 8:53:53 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
A couple of days ago, I woke up at 5:03 am hearing what sounded like a cat screaming. Then the blood curdling "Nooooooooooooo" sound from the cat and one more scream then all became quiet. after the sun was up a bit, I reconned the area to find a dead local cat in the woods behind the house. Something had brutally murdered it and left it there. I went back a bit later to get a better look at the victim to see if I could figure out what had gotten it but when I went back, the cat had been carried off by something. Lead dispensing equipment is ready should a predator be seen.

my take on this; probably dogs killed the cat, as he had time to get vocal before killed, or possibly a bobcat. a coyote would have stalked the cat and taken him without a sound, and left with him or ate him right there and you would have found just the head. now––- a coyote probably heard heard the commotion, was drawn to area, and you scared him off somewhat. after you left, he went and got dinner.

Posted: 4/18/2010 9:02:04 AM EDT

[#6]

What part of CO? I may be available to assist with administering the lead injections.

_MaH

Posted: 4/18/2010 9:11:03 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
it was colonel sanders

Or General Tso.

Posted: 4/18/2010 9:13:00 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:

Quoted:
it was colonel sanders

Or General Tso.

Popeye

Posted: 4/18/2010 9:18:57 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
it was colonel sanders

In the Library...

Posted: 4/18/2010 9:59:55 AM EDT

[#10]

Happened to a buddy of mine. Neighbor's dog was taking his hens. He finally caught it in the act and rewarded it with buckshot.

Being honest, he told the neighbors, who then pressed charges for animal cruelty!

After a few court appearances, the charges were dropped.

Good luck and SSS.

Posted: 4/18/2010 10:36:44 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
$300 down? Baby chickens don't cost $30 each...

Get a live a trap and start killing everything that ends up in it. That's what I did when things started killing my ducks. Skunks were the biggest the problem.

Build a fence for the chickens so they can't go too far. You should still be able to let them out during the day, just make sure they get locked in before dark.

Whatever animal is getting them is most likely living near by. Do you have any scrap piles, wood piles, old buildings, and any holes under foundations? Clean all those up and fill in any holes.

lol dude do some math before posting. 30 chickens x 30 dollars = $900. He spent $10 per chicken.

Posted: 4/18/2010 10:44:29 AM EDT

[#12]

Yep...

Lost 12 about a year ago. Fairly certain it was a raccoon.

Not allot ya can do about it. Just rebuild the coop and predator proof it more so they can't dig under it.

Good luck,
-3D

Posted: 4/18/2010 10:47:00 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:
a dead local cat in the woods behind the house. Something had brutally murdered it

LOLWUT? Murder is the name given to a crime committed by a human against another human. The cat was simply killed.

I use the term in the sense that the cat was not predated for food but was slaughtered and left.

Posted: 4/18/2010 10:48:50 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
A couple of days ago, I woke up at 5:03 am hearing what sounded like a cat screaming. Then the blood curdling "Nooooooooooooo" sound from the cat and one more scream then all became quiet. after the sun was up a bit, I reconned the area to find a dead local cat in the woods behind the house. Something had brutally murdered it and left it there. I went back a bit later to get a better look at the victim to see if I could figure out what had gotten it but when I went back, the cat had been carried off by something. Lead dispensing equipment is ready should a predator be seen.

my take on this; probably dogs killed the cat, as he had time to get vocal before killed, or possibly a bobcat. a coyote would have stalked the cat and taken him without a sound, and left with him or ate him right there and you would have found just the head. now––- a coyote probably heard heard the commotion, was drawn to area, and you scared him off somewhat. after you left, he went and got dinner.

The only thing is, there was no other sound except for the cat. No snarling, growling, or other animal noises. Just the cat. I've heard coyotes and dogs attack animals and make noise, even bigger cats make noise. The time frame between hearing the commotion and finding the cat was about 4 hours.

Posted: 4/18/2010 10:54:20 AM EDT

[#15]

Sounds like a Coyote problem. You can shoot 'em all you want. More will just come. I avoid the problem with extensive critter proof fencing partially cemented under ground. Costs more up front but keeps these problems to a minimum. I've never lost a chiken to a yote and we have no shortage of yotes.

Posted: 4/18/2010 11:30:31 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
Possibly a hungry ARFCOMMER?

Nah, I wait until the chicks are of legal age before I have my way with them.

Posted: 4/18/2010 11:33:36 AM EDT

[#17]

time to camp out in the barn for a few nights until the problem is solved.
you might want to invest in some audible alarms or motion sensor alarms that will alert you when there is movement outside your barn.

best bet would be to sleep in the barn and give whatever it is thats eating your animals a taste of birdshot/buckshot when it gets back inside.

time to go genocidal on any predatory animals in yor AO

Posted: 4/18/2010 11:41:27 AM EDT

[#18]

If it was a chimp then forget it, nothing defeats a chimp.

Posted: 4/18/2010 11:41:31 AM EDT

[#19]

Electrified fencing.

Posted: 4/18/2010 11:46:53 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Electrified fencing.

+1 you can get a cheap charger and setup for like 30 bucks for small varmints. need large for cyotes etc.

and its hilarious to watch the chickens run into it if you let them out. They can learn to avoid it surpisingly

Posted: 4/18/2010 12:00:46 PM EDT

[#21]

yeah, chickens + rural setting = just a matter of time till they start getting massacred.
If I ever do it again, besides predator-proofing, I will use a baby monitor in the coop. It'll give one more sleep time than doing the night-sniper thing.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:00:55 AM EDT

[#22]

Build this.

Added the electric fence yesterday. The dog found out it works shortly after I turned it on. The 2x4 welded wire fencing is burried 12 inches into the ground, and it then is flat for another 6 inches. Bottom wire is 6 inches above the ground, top wire runs round the top of the run.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:08:39 AM EDT

[#23]

8/10

Probably coyotes or foxes 55gr soft points work quite well on them.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:25:23 AM EDT

[#24]

I feel your pain - A week ago I lost 4 roosters one night. They were kept outside while the laying hens are put up every night. Based on past experience I'm thinking it was a fox or a coon. I think I'm going to try the box trap route.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:36:46 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
What part of CO? I may be available to assist with administering the lead injections.

_MaH

I'd be interested in dealing out some death and destruction too.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:41:55 AM EDT

[#26]

this is cost effective, and effective:

this is effective, but not cost effective, however it is badass:

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:51:12 AM EDT

[#27]

With the price of gas, license, gear it's too expensive to trap. Fox, Coyote populations are going to rise.

Posted: 4/19/2010 9:53:52 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
I bet it was a mink:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b206/santa1000/Mink.jpg

This one was a nice large male, he was beautiful. But, he killed 14 of my son's layers. We got him on the second night coming back for more in the set-up you see below.

Mink are known to do this. They will kill as many as they can and let them lay.

You can use a conibear trap set up like this to catch these little butchers:

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b206/santa1000/Coni1.jpg

This is 220 conibear for coon, but I put together a smaller set-up using a 110 conibear to catch the mink you see in the top picture.

Good luck!

O.K. as long as you don't have cats or dogs roaming around. Otherwise I wouldn't chance it.

Posted: 4/19/2010 2:21:13 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
With the price of gas, license, gear it's too expensive to trap. Fox, Coyote populations are going to rise.

Heck, I hardly ever see fox around, I don't know that I would shoot one if I did. Bobcats either come to think of it.
Coyote though are another thing, people don't hunt them like they used to and they get bold. I don't know why...
they're fun because they like to make a game of it in the woods. It just takes too much time I guess, people are busy.

Posted: 4/19/2010 6:39:55 PM EDT

[#30]

I had old English game hens, bantams. After a coon attack I rebuilt the coop out of 1” rough pine. Put it up about 18” on some 6” X 8” pressure treated. Enclosed the area under the coop with frames that had chick wire on one side and rat wire on the other. Also folded up and buried old chicken wire all around out about 12”
Had a trap door in the coop so they could access their underneath pen from inside any time they liked. Nothing got them after that. Hens finally died of old age. I miss them still but it was one less thing to be responsible for once they were gone.