people with house chickens

[Chickie Momma]

Hi friends, so sorry I haven't been on in a while. Something snatched Helen my Amaracauna and Crazy Lucy too! I am just beside myself and don't know what to do. I think it was a fox.
I can't even bring myself to clean up Lucy's feathers. I cry everytime I go outside. Lucy has only been gone since Friday afternoon. I don't get anymore eggs. My babies are only 2 months old so it will be a while... I miss her cackle in the morning and screeching at me when I am too late letting her out. And her talking to me during the day....guarding the babies and chasing the cats and the dog. I am crying right now.

 

[PBGGG]

Oh my god.. I am so sorry for your loss! It is so sad when we lose an animal or a loved one. Again so sorry

 

[Chickie Momma]

I don't have any layers right now. I have lost all 4 of my layers. Lucy was my husband's fav hen! He could give a rats *** about any other one.... He want's this fox in a bad way. So do I!!!

 

[PBGGG]

Are you going to try to find it and its den?

 

[TOOCLOSE]

OHHH Chickie Momma! I'm so so so sorry to hear about your beloved chickens being taken! I lost a very loved silkie hen to a large raccoon one early evening. I didn't have a clue what had taken her either. My husband found her remains in a tree the next morning. He buried her before I got up. She was with four other hens in a double pop up tent we had setup beside the end of our house here. We called it the airconditioned pens. We open the underpenning just enough to put box fans in it. The fans pull the air out from underneath the house into the tented area. They stay nice and cool while foraging for bugs and eating grass. We had fencing put up to separate the hens. That's how the raccoon got Munchkin as the first one! She had gotten sick a month earlier and I couldn't figure out what it was to heal her. The only decent thing about Munchkin being the one taken was the raccoon got the sick one and not a healthy one. I told my husband I pray whatever Munchkin had it would also make the raccoon sick and die.

Set your live trap close to where your babies were taken. Whatever got her will come back tonight for more. Just be sure IT can't get to the others left! I'm sure you'll see right after dark what got her. It was that quick on how we knew it was a huge raccoon. Caught that sucker really fast. He'll not eat another meal of any kind if you catch my meaning? We set the trap again and caught a huge possum the next night! Once a predator finds a source of a meal? They'll keep coming back until there's nothing left!

We had a bearded white silkie that I named Lucy too!

Again! My heart is hurting for you! I love our chickens as they were real ppl. We actually call them; "Little ppl in feathered suits"!

TC

 

[chrissy903]

Hi friends, so sorry I haven't been on in a while. Something snatched Helen my Amaracauna and Crazy Lucy too! I am just beside myself and don't know what to do. I think it was a fox.
I can't even bring myself to clean up Lucy's feathers. I cry everytime I go outside. Lucy has only been gone since Friday afternoon. I don't get anymore eggs. My babies are only 2 months old so it will be a while... I miss her cackle in the morning and screeching at me when I am too late letting her out. And her talking to me during the day....guarding the babies and chasing the cats and the dog. I am crying right now. 

I am so sorry for your loss! I know what it feels like to lose a precious chicken

.

 

[Crickett]

So very sorry for your loss!

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

I don't have any layers right now. I have lost all 4 of my layers. Lucy was my husband's fav hen! He could give a rats *** about any other one.... He want's this fox in a bad way. So do I!!!

Oh, Chickie Momma! I'm so sorry.

My DH feels about his "Cupcake" (5+ y/o white Silkie) the same way your hubby does about his Lucy.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi friends, so sorry I haven't been on in a while. Something snatched Helen my Amaracauna and Crazy Lucy too! I am just beside myself and don't know what to do. I think it was a fox.
I can't even bring myself to clean up Lucy's feathers. I cry everytime I go outside. Lucy has only been gone since Friday afternoon. I don't get anymore eggs. My babies are only 2 months old so it will be a while... I miss her cackle in the morning and screeching at me when I am too late letting her out. And her talking to me during the day....guarding the babies and chasing the cats and the dog. I am crying right now.

Very sorry! I can't bear it!

Da**ed canine types need outside electrified fencing to keep those nasties out! I saw one guy build a scaffold as his watchtower with a rifle for any coyotes he spots around his rural property. It's extreme but we do anything to protect our easily targeted flocks. If we sitll had our 25 acres I know I'd have electric fencing surrounding the outside of the poultry pen. Even then we had more trouble with neighbor's stray dogs than wildlife predators!

We don't get canine wildlife in the city but 2 large neighborhood pet dogs broke down our gate to get to our chickens but lucky a neighbor chased them off before any damage. However we now have TWO gates set up for any other canines owned by irresponsible dog owners.

A loose chicken in a neighbor's yard can be annoying but not dangerous - loose canines in a yard are vicious predators!

I love wildlife but in this instance I hope you all can locate that critter!

 

[misslys15]

Neighbors' dogs are the WORST. I don't understand why MY FAMILY should have to buy an electric fence to keep THEIR dogs out of in our coop in MY YARD. Since our neighbors found out that someone in my family was scared of dogs, they let them run into our yard even more. We can't let our chickens out of their run unless we stay within 10 ft of them at all times and only in certain areas of the yard to keep them away from the dogs.