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Barnyard Buddies:  My Flock  |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 06:52:41 AM
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It seems to be disappearing each day. I went out this morning and saw piles of feathers. Some of the chickens roost on the fence at night. That's how I lost Russell Crowe. So I counted and only see 6 Barred Rock and 14 Buffs. The biggest Buff hen is the one missing.
Then a few days ago I noticed the last 2 baby chicks were gone. Now I can't find the mother hen. I had 3 hens that all looked alike now there are only 2 of them.
And I'm down to 10 baby guineas now. All adults are still here, though.
So tonight I will go out after dark and grab the ones on the fence and put them in the hen house. See if that works.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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aunt boby
True Blue Farmgirl
173 Posts
toby
polo
illinois
USA
173 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 07:07:00 AM
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What kind of predators do you have in your area? Here it is coyotes, raccoons and hawks mainly. Last summer my mom lost 2 of her hens to hawks. She puts hers in at dusk since you can hear the coyotes runnin thru the fields at night. Hopefully you won't lose anymore.
POOR IS THE MAN WHO CANNOT ENJOY THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE- anonymous |
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Cabinprincess
True Blue Farmgirl
682 Posts
Melody June
Athens
TX
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 07:28:29 AM
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Owls will pluck them right off the fence at night. They are easy prey and they will be gone in no time because the owl knows they are there. I never feed my chickens outside the coop, I use that as a way to get them to come in for the evening where they will be safe from prey. Sorry you have lost so many, I know that feels awful.
Smiles, Melody June
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them. |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 08:58:03 AM
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I wonder if it could be owls. Because the whole chicken is gone. I never saw any sign of my roo, either. My dogs were barking like crazy during the night. I will leave Bubba, the big dog, out tonight. But I think it might be dogs, too. Usually, wild animals eat only certain parts of the chicken. That's what I've heard anyway. But it would have to be big to just snatch it up and run with it.
Thay will be put up tonight. I can't afford to loose any more. All the chickens inside the fence are fine and they aren't locked up.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 09:16:02 AM
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Kristin, all the chickens inside the fence are fine because the ones on the fence are easy for the predator to get, once you move them all inside, what ever is getting them may move inside as well. Most likely is not owls, cause they eat where they kill, and an owl splits the breast skin and eats the breast meat and leaves the rest, dogs usually just tear them up and make a mess if they are pets, if they are ferral, then they will at least eat part of them. Coyotes will grab and run as will fox.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 09:42:49 AM
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Oh my goodness! I just let my little hen and her 3 chicks out to run the yard and now I'm thinking they should come back in after reading this! I've had such rotten luck with my chicks...I don't want to lose anymore!!!
How about you Kristin, have you had any more show up?
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
http://oldethymecountrybarn.blogspot.com/
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 1:57:48 PM
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No! At this point I don't want anymore. I am too sad over loosing my big pretty Buff and the BR girls. It's just not fun to wake up to a pile of feathers every few days or so.
I hope yours go back in at night. I just have no idea what happened to my 2 little ones or their mother. Maybe they just went out in the field. She might have felt safer out there with all the feathers a flyin'.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Beverley
True Blue Farmgirl
2707 Posts
Beverley
atlanta
Michigan
USA
2707 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 2:24:47 PM
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We had a problem with a raccoon this summer. The whole chicken was gone , just feathers left. we put out a trap and caught him. no more problems.!!!! so you might try that too.
Folks will know how large your soul is by the way you treat a dog....Charles F. Doran
beverley baggett Beverley with an extra E...
http://bevsdoggies.googlepages.com/ |
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southerncrossgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
631 Posts
Gena
Harmony
NC
USA
631 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 4:37:32 PM
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Kris, I hope you can get all the chickens inside tonight. It is so heartbreaking to lose them.
Let us know in the morning if it worked. I hope so!
"A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes"==Cinderella |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 5:37:40 PM
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I just went out there to get them all in and they aren't there. I looked around and there are 6 Buffs and a BR and a few of the older hens in the cedar tree out back in the goat yard. It's pouring rain, too. Dumb birds. They're too high up to reach. So I guess we'll see if they are still alive in the morning. At least they aren't on the fence in the driveway.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Cabinprincess
True Blue Farmgirl
682 Posts
Melody June
Athens
TX
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 9:29:10 PM
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Here in Texas we have Great Horned Owls that will swoop down a snatch a full grown chicken and fly off with it. I had 2 hens start going into an empty rabbit hutch to sleep. We woke up to a awful noise one night and by the time we got out to the yard the owl was coming out of the hutch with a full grown hen in his claws and off he flew with it. We hatched Mallard ducks and as the grew they floated on the top of a wadding pool. We started loosing them and the dogs were having a fit. We set up our cots to sleep out and see what was getting them. It was an owl that swooped down and tried to grab a duck but we stopped it with a blast from the shotgun. We moved our ducks into a shed at night and did not lose another. Hawks would swoop right down in the day and snatch a baby chick and fly off with it.
Had we not seen the owls ourselves we may have thought it was a coyote.
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them. |
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peachy
True Blue Farmgirl
593 Posts
Melissa
Fennville
MI
USA
593 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2009 : 11:50:54 PM
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Kris...pourin rain here too this afternoon and I did wait acouple hours and let my new "mother hen" teach her youngins' how to get along diggin in the dirt! Then...the mothering instinct came out in me and I grabbed them all and put them back in! I heard some racoons fighting in the back pasture and that was the last straw! I've lost enough chicks and by golly I'm gonna do my best not to lose these!!! It is so irritating and so hard! All I want is everyone to be safe and happy (and a few eggs for us in the am!) Those darn birds of mine aren't even laying now!!! I'm wondering if they're hearing all the ruckus with the racoons in the back?????!!!
Melissa
Farmgirl Sister #360
http://oldethymecountrybarn.blogspot.com/
Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning to dance in the rain! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 06:17:15 AM
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Apparently mine were traumatized enuf to not go back to the scene of the masacre. They all seem to be here this morning. I am missing 2 of the game hens, though. I hope they are off setting on some eggs somewhere. I need to go on an egg hunt. I am out of eggs, too. I have to very faithful hens that are still laying every day so far.
I hope your babies are ok this morning, Melissa. They do tend to get nervous with the strange noises. I left our dog out last night. Of course he barked all night but I guess maybe he kept bad critters away. He hates being outside. Poor dog!
I have heard owls around here so that could very well be the culprit. And coyotes all over, too.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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southerncrossgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
631 Posts
Gena
Harmony
NC
USA
631 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2009 : 07:07:08 AM
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Glad everything seems fine this morning. I bet your dog did the trick. Unfortunately, it is one of my very own dogs that would kill my chickens, if she had the chance. I have to keep mine in the chicken yard all the time because of that. I have to say that I choose my dog over the chickens though. So, that is the way it has to be.
"A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes"==Cinderella |
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Barnyard Buddies: My Flock |
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My Flock
