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Barnyard Buddies:  Predator vs chicken :(. Update  |
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 28 2018 : 04:54:37 AM
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Hi Farmgirls,
I remember when MaryJane wrote one day how one of her girls didn’t come in to roost and was killed by a predator.
Well, recently I lost my first chicken to a predator. I went to close up the chickies and one was dead, under the ramp, her head pulled through the fence and her neck broken.
It wasn’t quite dark yet. Nothing got in the coop/fence but pulled her through the other side, from what looks like underneath the fence. They did not eat her, because they could not get her through the fence.
She was my daughter’s chicken, our favorite named “Bender” after the cartoon character. She squeaked instead of clucked. Her comb bent to one side. She was the cutest. Worst of all, it was my birthday!
Last week, we saw a bobcat in the yard. I was thinking this was the work of a fisher cat. Maybe a raccoon. Looks like they pulled her leg her neck as she was trying to get in for the night. This morning there was a large red tail hawk sitting next to the fence, waiting for the chickens to be let out. Could a hawk do that? Pull a chicken through a chain link fence?
Ugh. Just ugh.
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
Chapter Leader, CT Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, Jan. 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blog
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/
www.facebook.com/suburbanfarmgirlblogger |
Edited by - texdane on Apr 03 2018 1:22:48 PM |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
6791 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
6791 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2018 : 05:53:30 AM
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I'm so sorry Nicole. My sister who has a flock of 40 chickens has lost them to stray cats, raccoons, skunks, and coyotes; hawks if one is caught when let out to scratch around. Judy, the mule will chase coyotes off if they are in her pasture which surrounds the house & hen houses on three sides.
What is a fisher cat?
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2018 : 6:47:13 PM
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Oh gosh! 40! I can not imagine that! Yikes! I did not lose anyone today but we are going to have to reinforce the fence with smaller wire between the chain link. It broke my heart because her sister chickie was literally looking for her today. :(
A fisher cat is a type of weasel. They are nasty, and very deadly. Looks like a large weasel, same family. Unfortunately, they were brought into Connecticut some time ago to keep the turkey population down. DUH! They have no known predator. They can kill anything, including a human, though I don’t think it is something they seek out. I think it is rare. They kill for sport. They will kill and not eat the prey. They look a bit like a mink. Nasty things. They sound like a woman screaming. Creepy! I have seen three or four in 25 years, but its getting more frequent.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
Chapter Leader, CT Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, Jan. 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blog
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/
www.facebook.com/suburbanfarmgirlblogger |
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firecatinc
True Blue Farmgirl
1252 Posts
Lenora
Fulks Run
VA
USA
1252 Posts |
Posted - Mar 28 2018 : 7:49:42 PM
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So sad when you lose one of them. A hawk would have flown away with it, that's what happened to one of our rooster - an eagle took him. My guess would be a smaller animal, coon, cat, dog.
Nora
Farmgirl Sister #7131
Farmgirl of the Month, January 2017
http://firecatinc.wordpress.com |
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2018 : 1:24:56 PM
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Yes, its a hawk. He cant fly away with the prey because he only could reach through the fence and pull through. He’s been trying again all week. He’s magnificent - so beautiful but I’d like him to find a different snack than my chickie girls. Foxes and bears have tried to get in and failed, but we didn’t think of something pulling through from the other side, so we are lining the coop yard with finer gauge wire all around. Foul Knox will be even more lockdowned!
Farmgirl Hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
Chapter Leader, CT Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, Jan. 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blog
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/
www.facebook.com/suburbanfarmgirlblogger |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
6791 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
6791 Posts |
Posted - Apr 03 2018 : 1:49:01 PM
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Nicole I agree hawks are magnificent creatures. Before I moved to Paris I lived on a small hill and one year I ran around my back yard waving a kitchen towel to keep a hawk away from cardinals nesting in a thicket along back fence line. Now that I think about it my neighbors must have thought I had lost my mind.
Sara~~~ FarmGirl Sister #6034 8/25/14
FarmGirl of the Month Sept 2015.
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.
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Barnyard Buddies: Predator vs chicken :(. Update |
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Predator vs chicken :(. Update
