Sad day.

1. 90

   Rochelle Frankposted 10 years ago

   A predator killed our three chickens.

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      CraftytotheCoreposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That is a very sad day.  :*(  We had a farm when I was growing up.  My grandfather tried his best but the chickens in the enclosed in pen were snatched by raccoon or fox.  We're not sure which.  All 25 of them.

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      1. 90

         Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, that's a big loss for  a farm.

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   2. 81

      HollieTposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ahh, that's really sad, I'm so sorry to hear that.

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      AMFredenburgposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That is sad. I'm sure they were family members rather than livestock. <3

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         Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sort of.. they were fun, but we did enjoy the eggs, and knowing exactly how fresh they were.

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      IzzyMposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am so sorry Rochelle. You must be devastated - hens are just so cute. I just got a huge fence built round mine because my puppy killed one a couple of weeks ago. She took two days to die

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   5. 79

      Suhail and my dogposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I know this is an old post, but I had an advice. Please do consider bringing in a dog from a breeder who is a livestock, chicken protector. There are many available who are bonded with farm animals and protect them from predators. You can also get an 8 week old puppy and try bonding with the chicken from the get go. I know for sure this is what I am going to do when I start a hobby farm of my own.

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2. 0

   Beth37posted 10 years ago

   Im sorry Rochelle.

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   1. 90

      Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Not your fault, Beth 37.... (as far as I know). But I'm sorry, too. They were nice chickens.
      This is the worst time. Spring is a long way off to wait and get new chicks.

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3. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 10 years ago

   Do you know how it got in (racoon, dog?) or were they free range?  I found our dog with her head in our coop this week with the chickens going crazy....Sorry for the loss, I know they are like pets (at least in our family).

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      Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      We can't see where anything got under the fence. Don't think it was a dog. We do have raccoons, possums, skunks, foxes, coyotes, bears, owls, hawks and a few other things. We are thinking raccoon at this point.

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4. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 10 years ago

   It may be a little soon, but our farm supply has pullet chickens and chicks available now, so it's possible (at least on the west coast) to get them now, instead of waiting for the spring.

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5. 90

   Rochelle Frankposted 10 years ago

   I think we will wait until they are available near us. It snows here -- and I don't want to keep them in the house.  I don't think they can be housebroken.

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6. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 10 years ago

   Our girls pull them out and bring them in the house.  They poop so much in the house that we keep a giant container of wet wipes handy:)

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7. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 10 years ago

     so sad ~ sorry for your loss.
   
   My son has 5 and they run for their cage if they feel they've been out too long.  They're the cutest things when they kind of half fly.

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8. 87

   IzzyMposted 10 years ago

   Rochelle, I believe California has ex-battery hens needing re-homed though not sure who you would contact. http://m.ktvu.com/news/news/local/1200- … ast/nZm5f/
   That story is about some of them going to New York to get re-homed. These intensive egg farms send the birds to get turned into animal feed when they lay a little less. If there is a place near you, you can buy them for next to nothing and adopt them.

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9. 0

   epsonok0posted 10 years ago

   you may want to check on this. We had a chicken farm. We got a few scared and then none that would lay. Several died. My parents determined it to be a fisher. A stealthy cat like creature. We were told to catch and kill the fisher or contact fish and game for disposal of the predator. It is a problem. You can install black tarp and a heavy mesh lid over the roof. The black tarp around the perimeter. You are right. Fresh is important. The eggs now come in again. After relocating the entire group to another farm. We had a fortunate flock of very protective wild gines. They are like watch dog wild chickens. They vanished one by one to the fishers stomach. Then he harassed our chickens again. So sorry for your loss. Wish you the best in the future.

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    Patty Inglish, MSposted 10 years ago

    I am sad to hear of the loss of your chickens, for all the reasons - pets, eggs, just to be around animals, all of it.
    
    A client of mine once had a single pet hen. He went to the store one day and returned to find that his neighbor had taken a crossbow and pinned the chicken, now dead, to the ground with an arrow. I don't know if he ever got another chicken, but I bet the neighbor was sorry after the hen owner was done with him. 
    
    I hope your new chickens are fantastic, whenever you get them.

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11. 90

    Rochelle Frankposted 10 years ago

    Thank you all for your kind expressions and thoughts.
    It feels sad to not get the chicken greeting when I go down to the garden area.  We will probably get more in the next few months, and see what we can do to make them more secure. We are thinking that raccoons might have done the deed since we have seen some evidence of their presence on our property, and heard others report sightings in the area.

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       Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Sorry for your loss. We used to have raccoons come into our house to eat the cats' food.  The cats were afraid of them; they would back away with their coats staring.  I was concerned too, because it was daytime and I thought they were nocturnal.  They came around everyday until something happened to them, probably on the road...
       
       Good luck with your new chickens.

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          Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you, Solaras. Some years ago we visited some people at Lake Arrowhead, CA. Their area was practically overrun with raccoons-- and we did see them during daylight hours too. They can be quite aggressive and were becoming a real problem. They do loooove pet food. The little community  made a concerted effort to keep from feeding them.

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    Hui (蕙)posted 10 years ago

    So sorry for you. I miss Xiaobai, my first pet dog and my first pet. She was stolen by some bad people years ago, but I never forget her and always pray for her. She was spoiled too much, then lacks independence. That was not a good education.

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13. 0

    Beth37posted 10 years ago

    I opened this thread and thought Rochelle had lost 3 more chickens. Very confusing.

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