Am I paranoid?

[wanda047]

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As a child we raised chickens and had several coops. When there was a ruckus in one of the coops in the middle of the night, my mom was always the one who jumped up in her nightgown and ran outside with the gun. When we'd hear her shoot, us kids would always pray it was a coon she shot and not a possum, 'cause whatever she shot, we were probably gonna eat the next day.

Coon dumplings ain't so bad, but possum will make you puke!

 

[Tala]

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Well, I wear my regular clothes, and since there hasn't been any trouble I leave my gun inside, but it's hanging by my door ready.

The doghouse part of my tractor is secure so after I lock em in I feel safe, but my run isn't dig-under-proof and I haven't wired it for electric fence yet.

Mostly I go out and check to make sure they aren't burning up under the lamp, or running around crazy and needing water since I had to take it away.

On the one hand, once they are more grown I expect them to sleep through the night better and not need a light or have to worry about hot/cold

but on the other hand I figure the longer I have chickens out there the more likely predators are to figure out that they're here.

Guess you shouldn't come over after dark, huh

Edit: and for the record, my gun was hanging by the door long before I got chickens, it's just a southern thing.
especially if you have been a victim of crime. I'm not paranoid or scared, just prepared.

 

[beak]

Quote:
As a child we raised chickens and had several coops. When there was a ruckus in one of the coops in the middle of the night, my mom was always the one who jumped up in her nightgown and ran outside with the gun. When we'd hear her shoot, us kids would always pray it was a coon she shot and not a possum, 'cause whatever she shot, we were probably gonna eat the next day.

Coon dumplings ain't so bad, but possum will make you puke!

Uncle Jed and Granny always liked them.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
As a child we raised chickens and had several coops. When there was a ruckus in one of the coops in the middle of the night, my mom was always the one who jumped up in her nightgown and ran outside with the gun. When we'd hear her shoot, us kids would always pray it was a coon she shot and not a possum, 'cause whatever she shot, we were probably gonna eat the next day.

Coon dumplings ain't so bad, but possum will make you puke!

ILOVE IT!

 

[OverEZ]

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Completely agree with this statement. It almost makes me feel defeat before I have an official go at it.

 

[beak]

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Completely agree with this statement. It almost makes me feel defeat before I have an official go at it.

If your coop is secure you'll be okay. There are a lot of good ideas under coop construction. We had 17 chickens for a long time. Then I made the mistake of having someone clean our horse corral with a skidsteer. I had him make piles of manure along the chicken run fence which is 6 ft high. All the sudden we had 2 dead birds in the run during the day. No marks on them, no digging under the fence. We though something came in from the other side next to the garden because the gate had been left open. I raised the height of that fence and we lost 3 more during the day. This time there were prints. Still couldn't figure it out so did some more fence blocking. Thought we had it licked then we lost 2 more. This time she left a headless chicken behind. So we confined the chickens to quarters during the day. Yesterday my DW is looking out the window and the fox is walking across the garden in plain view just as brazen as can be. Walks right by one of the cats and runs up the pile of manure and jumps the fence. I grabbed the gun to go outside. I opened the door real quiet but she heard it and ran off. Now I have to go knock that pile down with a shovel. What a stupid place to put it.

Use common sense and make your area secure you should be ok. Don't be stupid like me.

 

[montcapu]

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I agree with you, I read these post when I first got babies and almost just wanted to give up, but have not had any issues with predators at all

 

[chookchick]

Maybe the Predators forum, and the Illness and Emergencies forum should have stickies warning people that reading them might make them kind of paranoid. On the one hand--I am glad I didn't read them before I got my chicks as I may never have got started. But reading them before I built my coop was a godsend. More people that have no issues need to write in!

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Wow... you people are nuts. There is little i value in life more than sleeping.

i say if you start looking for trouble you start expecting it. If you expect something you'll always get it.

I never expect predators. I make it a point to be as predator proof as I am capable of being.

And then I sleep like a baby.

 

[wanda047]

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I think part of being a responsible owner is being prepared for anything and everything. It's like having bandaids.... before getting a boo-boo!

I DO expect predators! I know my neck of the woods and know that they are just out there waiting for the opportunity to nab one of my chickens. I've had coyotes in my backyard in broad daylight. Have lost cats/kittens to foxes and coyotes in my backyard. My neighbors lost an entire flock to coons. I don't think being too careful and watchful is a bad thing.

As for the sleep? I'm getting old and have insomnia most of the time anyway.

Might as well be watching out for the chickens. It gives me something to do. LOL