Online Large Fowl Chat Thread - Page 111

Darn, sorry Deb about the Polish.  Just when you think you are getting somewhere with a certain breed then POW two steps back.

I had a couple come by tonight and bought the entire Americana flock.  For the first time in a long time I have a couple of empty coops.

HOT2POT sorry about your chickens!!! Ugh  Yup Annie get your gun!   You have such a large amount of land for your chickens those foxes can have a field day.  They are so smart there is practically no way to out smart them but to lock up your chickens.  Hmmmmmm, if I had to guess how many chicken you have I would have to say   (JUST A WILD GUESS LOL)  Counting chicks........easy 300+  .....  I was AMAZED.  You have such a wonderful farm. 

Sorry about your birds, Deb.     It is predator season...everyone is feeding their babies. 

I bought 12 meat birds Sun before last, Monday morning...they were ALL gone.     A fox !!  She has 3 kits and lives out back of my property. I found chicken parts all around her den.   A neighbor is trying to help catch her & the pups to release. We are having no luck. Traps are set off....leg traps are set off. She is way too smart for us.    She snatched a Guinea this Mon. morning.  Not sure what to do at this point. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot2Pot 

Thanks everyone for your support. I tried to message you twice Beth with my solution to the den but lost both messages. It is awful to worry about your chickens 24/7. Going to buy a holster today for my .38 and also maybe sit up all afternoon guarding chickens with my rifle one day . They are so bold, they may show up. There is lots of game, but they kill chickens without much effort so they just keep killing:-(

Sent you a PM...maybe you can message back.... computer glitches 

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellyga 

I am so sorry to hear about all the predator problems.. I know they have to eat too.. and I consider myself an animal lover.. but gotta draw the line at eating my chickens. So far.. so good here.. but considering I have a nesting pair of hawks close by.. will have to double the protective efforts when they free range for sure. on a good note.. only 12 more days of school.. I can not WAIT to be out for the summer!!!

The kids have 11 more days and I have 1 day after that.  I'm thinking about teaching 7-8 grade summer school.  It is from 0800-1200 M-F for up to 3 weeks, paid at my hourly rate.  I taught it last summer and I kind of enjoyed it.  I could really use the money too.

So, how do I catch a red fox?  I saw it last spring for a week or two and didn't see it after that.  It looked really mangy last year.  This year it is the tallest red fox I have ever seen.  At first I thought it was a fawn, but came to my senses.  Then I thought, coyote, but I know it isn't.

Spent most of the night at the emergency vet clinic with our boy dogchild (Bear) who was having seizures.  He was 11 years old.  We ended up having to make that tough decision after the vet determined he had a brain tumor and kept having back to back seizures.. I am terribly sad.. only animal lovers can truly understand.  Love my BYC family.. needed to share.

Shelly