AshlyMommaWard
Chirping
I free range my chickens, have been for about 2 months.
I trained my dogs not to mess with the chickens, they are well behaved farm dogs that obey and listen very well.
They are wonderful varmint dogs, with the exception of leaving the property 2-3 times a day when its hot to swim in a neighboring pond. They have both had extensive obedience training and are well kept dogs.
The losses started 2 weeks ago. The smallest bird (10 week old bo) went missing. Just gone. The next day her partially eaten body appears in my yard. My dogs have a love for all things dead, we have a "varmint graveyard" near the pasture where they leave their armadillos, and rarely possum & raccoon (both young only) or groundhog. They defend this are from vultures & any other interested creature. They did not take the pullet there, they put her right in my front yard, for me to see.
2nd attack, I was outside and heard the distress call from a 10 week old welsummer, the dogs were on the other side of a running vehicle and didn't hear it, I went running and yelled for dogs to "get it". They ran into the woods, no barking, and I heard frantic " noises " from what? Odd sound I can't place, possibly fox or raccoon? It was sort of a chittering*. Hard to describe. Dogs came back within 3 minutes, older dog has blood in his mouth. They didn't make chase or bark as if treed animal. I have seem them tree squirrels, they bark, pace, then give up. No body found, my visiting brother trecked into the woods to search for body of chicken and/or predator, found neither. Dogs were uninterested. The next morning the lower half of said bird is found in my front yard. Head neck & breast are gone rest of the bird & entire windpipe are intact. My dogs were uninterested in this carcass as well, aside from bringing it out of the woods.
Then the massacre yesterday. Came home at dusk to: one wounded and non moving bird. Her feathers are in 3 piles, none where I found her. Amazingly she has only a fairly large bruise, lots of featherloss and was in shock, no broken bones or puncture wounds.
Around the corner there are 4 dead birds, no wounds, all necks broken. Nothing eaten. 2 17 week old pullets, one 16 week old pullet & one 10 week old pullet. One dead bird, the last 10 week old pullet, same co edition as 4 in front of coop is in my front yard. 4 birds were missing. The remaining birds, including 17 week old cockerel are in coop, roosted. We searched for missing birds, to no avail, gathered bodies, and cleaned up the injured bird. Stella, the 17 week old EE, crated her in the coop.
This am I went out, to feed the flock, left the Big door open, as I always do, none went out, they weren't even out in their run, all remaining birds are huddled in the coop, clearly traumatized. While I'm in, my glw comes running in UNHARMED! hooray! After feeding i closed the door. They will remain locked up until I figure this out, their coop is fort Knox! My dogs we giving some extra attention to an area where we store junk, our scrap metal pile, an old ramp to our porch & cattle pannals. The both go running under the ramp as I watch, I hear chicken noises and scream! they come out immediately and stand by me, I took them to the shop for good measure. Until this I was very confident that they were not involved in the massacre.
I retrieve my prized isbar cockerel from under the ramp. I had found so many of his beautiful splash feathers that I though he was a gonner. He is seriously worked over, like Stella, has what looks lime very fine scratch, not bite, marks on his breast and is covered in a yellowish substance, filthy. He is mobile and alert. Eats and drinks immediately. Wound is treated with antibiotic cream. Moments later I hear scrambling in the coop and out emerges a 12 week old pullet from underneath a straw bale & built in brooder. I dont know how she was crammed in there, she has a badly broken toe and missing feathers. There is now only one missing bird/body.
So. What on earth?
Borrowed a live trap & will have it set, baited with a dead bird, by dusk.
Neighbors have dogs, one loose that has paid no attention to the birds, he plays with my young dog. Another dog that is chained, he could've gotten loose, but they'd never admit it. Although they told me months ago that he's a "cat killer".
At least one attack was a wild animal, the only attack I heard.
I am so confused.
The straw bale in the coop being disheveled leads me to believe the assailant came in the coop. The door I leave open Is 6 inches wide. Could not have been my large dogs. Their attempted chase of the isbar this am could have been that he smelled like the predator? Fox? Raccoon? Am I in denial? Throw me some ideas!
If the last missing bird shows up I will be leaning tword dogs, neighbor's or my own. This is like a nightmare!
I trained my dogs not to mess with the chickens, they are well behaved farm dogs that obey and listen very well.
They are wonderful varmint dogs, with the exception of leaving the property 2-3 times a day when its hot to swim in a neighboring pond. They have both had extensive obedience training and are well kept dogs.
The losses started 2 weeks ago. The smallest bird (10 week old bo) went missing. Just gone. The next day her partially eaten body appears in my yard. My dogs have a love for all things dead, we have a "varmint graveyard" near the pasture where they leave their armadillos, and rarely possum & raccoon (both young only) or groundhog. They defend this are from vultures & any other interested creature. They did not take the pullet there, they put her right in my front yard, for me to see.
2nd attack, I was outside and heard the distress call from a 10 week old welsummer, the dogs were on the other side of a running vehicle and didn't hear it, I went running and yelled for dogs to "get it". They ran into the woods, no barking, and I heard frantic " noises " from what? Odd sound I can't place, possibly fox or raccoon? It was sort of a chittering*. Hard to describe. Dogs came back within 3 minutes, older dog has blood in his mouth. They didn't make chase or bark as if treed animal. I have seem them tree squirrels, they bark, pace, then give up. No body found, my visiting brother trecked into the woods to search for body of chicken and/or predator, found neither. Dogs were uninterested. The next morning the lower half of said bird is found in my front yard. Head neck & breast are gone rest of the bird & entire windpipe are intact. My dogs were uninterested in this carcass as well, aside from bringing it out of the woods.
Then the massacre yesterday. Came home at dusk to: one wounded and non moving bird. Her feathers are in 3 piles, none where I found her. Amazingly she has only a fairly large bruise, lots of featherloss and was in shock, no broken bones or puncture wounds.
Around the corner there are 4 dead birds, no wounds, all necks broken. Nothing eaten. 2 17 week old pullets, one 16 week old pullet & one 10 week old pullet. One dead bird, the last 10 week old pullet, same co edition as 4 in front of coop is in my front yard. 4 birds were missing. The remaining birds, including 17 week old cockerel are in coop, roosted. We searched for missing birds, to no avail, gathered bodies, and cleaned up the injured bird. Stella, the 17 week old EE, crated her in the coop.
This am I went out, to feed the flock, left the Big door open, as I always do, none went out, they weren't even out in their run, all remaining birds are huddled in the coop, clearly traumatized. While I'm in, my glw comes running in UNHARMED! hooray! After feeding i closed the door. They will remain locked up until I figure this out, their coop is fort Knox! My dogs we giving some extra attention to an area where we store junk, our scrap metal pile, an old ramp to our porch & cattle pannals. The both go running under the ramp as I watch, I hear chicken noises and scream! they come out immediately and stand by me, I took them to the shop for good measure. Until this I was very confident that they were not involved in the massacre.
I retrieve my prized isbar cockerel from under the ramp. I had found so many of his beautiful splash feathers that I though he was a gonner. He is seriously worked over, like Stella, has what looks lime very fine scratch, not bite, marks on his breast and is covered in a yellowish substance, filthy. He is mobile and alert. Eats and drinks immediately. Wound is treated with antibiotic cream. Moments later I hear scrambling in the coop and out emerges a 12 week old pullet from underneath a straw bale & built in brooder. I dont know how she was crammed in there, she has a badly broken toe and missing feathers. There is now only one missing bird/body.
So. What on earth?
Borrowed a live trap & will have it set, baited with a dead bird, by dusk.
Neighbors have dogs, one loose that has paid no attention to the birds, he plays with my young dog. Another dog that is chained, he could've gotten loose, but they'd never admit it. Although they told me months ago that he's a "cat killer".
At least one attack was a wild animal, the only attack I heard.
I am so confused.
The straw bale in the coop being disheveled leads me to believe the assailant came in the coop. The door I leave open Is 6 inches wide. Could not have been my large dogs. Their attempted chase of the isbar this am could have been that he smelled like the predator? Fox? Raccoon? Am I in denial? Throw me some ideas!
If the last missing bird shows up I will be leaning tword dogs, neighbor's or my own. This is like a nightmare!
