Is this the Real Killer?
I am heart broken. In the last three days, the last five remaining hens have been hunted and killed by a predator. The sole survivor is Rocksanne, my swift gay rooster.
Surveying the nearby trees, I found a large Raccoon. Do you spot him in the digital picture? Is this the real killer? Was the Possum family framed?
My rooster, Rocksanne, now has a lonely and depressed demeanor. Whenever I enter the chicken pen, he stands perfectly still... almost comatose. It's sad to witness. I'll pick him up and give comforting tender rubs behind his head. For his safety, I have been putting him indoors each night.
I will run a secure wire mesh top to the chicken pen today. This was supposed to be done weeks ago, but the person I hired convinced me a trap was the best way to go. That trap hasn't caught jack shit. The wiley killer sets off the trap, eats the raw meat, and finds a way out each and every goddamn time. Arggh!
After I am assured that there is ironclad security in the chicken pen, I will buy a dozen baby chicks. That should bring my rooster some happiness and hope for a brighter future.
posted by Brettcajun at Friday, August 14, 2009
17 Comments:
Good lord, that's INSANE! Hopefully once you get things all safe and secure, you can start anew with the chicks and things will be fine and dandy.
What type of tracks have you seen around the coop, after the killings? Raccoon or fox? Or maybe, it's a foxy guy trying to catch you!
Oh man, I'm sorry to hear this. Greg is too. We hope your new chickens fare better.
Bet ya wished you'd clubbed those possums now.
Dreadful situation. Very much hope your solution is effective and that Rocksanne can soon forget the past and rejoice in new company -safely!
Us city-folk only have to worry about packs of wild dogs (seriously), the occassional deer and raccoon.
The former eats my plants, the latter gets into the garbage.
The dogs? Well they are just downright scary - garbage, squirrels, bunnies, cats, other dogs...people....
As far as i know - we have no chickens, hens or roosters.
I'm sorry to read about the rest of the chickens getting offed.
I'm not sure if Raccoons go after chickens - chicken eggs maybe, but rarely the chickens themselves.
I bet you dollars to donuts its a fox.
And the word verification: Mansuker. Seriously. LOL
it's the raccoon. we have a similar problem and the top of the coop is covered - the raccoon is smart enough too get in no matter how secure. Even in a large above ground pen at night, sometimes he'll grab a small banty through the space between the door and the latch.
I'm thinking the raccoon is a likely suspect. There's good eatin' on one of them ya' know?
Good luck with the security measures.
Even if the trap caught a predator, that wouldn't mean another predator wouldn't come along. The small wire mess is the better solution.
The raccoons like to get in my horse tank and eat my goldfish. I ended up putting a metal frame over the top. Destructive critters.
Raccoons are killers. I've seen them kill pens of chickens, ducks and pheasants.
Good luck Brett
I had similar problems with a racoon, killing chickens, a wire top and a strand of electric fence low to the
ground around the pen will do the trick. You can sprinkle some white lime around pen and watch for footprints, that will tell you what it is. Owls will also fly in a pen at night. I keep my chickens locked up after dark, Ron
hey brett your gonna have to do like we done.. your gonna have to get what they call Hardware cloth and dig down in the ground about 6 inches and concrete it in.... that was the only way we stopped ours...
You live in the south. Don't you have a shotgun? Just kidding.
Raccoons kill poultry by decapitating them. Have you found the heads of your chickens lying around? If not you’re probably dealing with an eagle, owl or fox. Fox will carry the hen away so you won’t find any evidence of having been there. Fox also tend to hunt about 2 hours before sunrise and 2 hours after sunset.
Can't they all just get along?
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