So this has been an extremely hard spring. I separated my Toulouse from the chickens for breeding season, and have had predator problems ever since. Coyotes got 2 hens. Problem eliminated. Fencing tightened. Fox found its way into the hen house. 3 more hens gone. Hole found. Dog loosed. Fox never came back. But last night in the half hour between sundown and coop close, I lost a massive cochin roo. Ozzy, poor sweet boy, got nailed in the door of the coop defending the girls. I was home and didn't hear a thing. darn! But the trail of feathers was horrifying. It took a 12 pound rooster over an 8 ft fence. Bobcat. How do you keep that out of the yard?!? So I picked up the phone and the boys are out. I'm usually the first person to fortify, rather than hunt, but not this time. I have 2 geese sitting on a communal nest about 20 feet from the chicken coop. It is just to risky to button down the hatches and allow the cat to find the next easy meal. I had to leave for work, but I did hear the hounds starting to trail on the hill. Happy hunting boys, happy hunting.
