Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

 

Good questions, other than complete lockdown, I'm not sure there is an easy legal solution.  On our last attack the coyote jumped the wall sometime after 10 am and grabbed a chicken right in front of me.  My presence was no deterrent.  It did, however, drop the chicken when I ran at it like a mad man, ready to stomp it to death.  Last week my wife and I were moving the vehicles around in the drive way and a young coyote pup walked right between us, hopped the small wall in the front yard and walked down the side of the property towards the back--completely uninhibited by our presence.  I ran to the spot in the back yard where they usually jump the wall and looked over to find it sitting right there on the other side.  It did run away when I yelled at it.  So, while yelling and throwing things at them will drive them off, it doesn't keep them away for long.

Wow. they're pretty brazen, aren't they?

I guess hunger trumps fear.

Most people don't realize that 6 foot fence is nothing to bob cats, cyotoes & grey fox's.. They can use a tree or lattice to get over..in most cases, 8 feet is a EASY leap for them.. Our tinny Manx/cat can jump from a stand still up to 5-6 feet.. She is 10 pounds..
Gallo is correct, complete lock down is necessary.. Lots of people are outside with them & the incident happens so quick with no time to react.. like gallo says, "legal" you schould be outside & fire with a firearm in the city.. However, maybe someone can post the legal language for that? Possibly a pellet gun..any way, Who has time for that?? Plus the critters are just hungry & need to eat.. We love wild life & if everyone got rid of them because they eat chciken, well you get the idea... Just like the bears that come into town in other parts of the state because of no food for them in the wild..

 

[primaknits]

Wow, it looks like I'm not the only one with losses this week.

I'm getting over it, and planning with my husband as to what we are going to do. I really would like to get an electric fence put up eventually but we need to save for that. In the meantime, when he gets back from El Paso I think we will be putting up some plywood or something similar around the bottom perimeter of the coop where there is exposed wire.

 

[a little chiken]

Unfortunately there are so many predators around that will get your chickens, it's hard to say what it might have been.

We lost two chickens to our dog today. She has never even looked at the chickens in the ten months we've had them and today she decides to grab two of them. So fast we couldn't do anything about it even though my husband was right there. She will NEVER be trusted around them again, but it doesn't help the two that died.

so sry for your loss.

 

[a little chiken]

Don't laugh at me but it works. Have your husband urinate everywhere around the yard. Not just a couple times. Do it a lot for a while and they should stay away.

This paired with waiting til the a.m and running them off should help.

When I was younger we lived in the middle of nowhere (Golden Valley) and my father killed a coyote and spread its blood around our property line. Nothing crossed that line for almost 2years. He killed the coyote while it was killing our Turkeys.

 

[K9Dave]

When I was younger we lived in the middle of nowhere (Golden Valley) and my father killed a coyote and spread its blood around our property line. Nothing crossed that line for almost 2years. He killed the coyote while it was killing our Turkeys.

Yes in Texas we used to hang the coyotes in the fence posts to ward off others. Coyotes are coyotes no matter where they are and the urine or carcass method works if done diligently.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Just think about the logic of this for a minute. A coyote SEES me, right there in front of him and still thinks it's worth a shot at trying to take a chicken a dozen feet away from me. Another walks right between my wife and I on it's way to grab a bird in the back yard. If a person's presence doesn't deter them, why would the odor of urine have any impact? I'm curious about your reasoning.

 

[a little chiken]

Christian with his new doeling "Gypsy"

Our new Nigerian doeling s Reeses pop "poppy" brown doe and Madeline "Mattie" white doe

moo moo

Sean

My new silkied AM chicks

Had to share all our new babies. My farm is coming together finally.

 

[primaknits]

Christian with his new doeling "Gypsy"

Our new Nigerian doeling s Reeses pop "poppy" brown doe and Madeline "Mattie" white doe

moo moo

Sean






My new silkied AM chicks

Had to share all our new babies. My farm is coming together finally.

Awwwww, SO CUTE!

I have dreams of getting more farm animals some day. My husband and I are originally from WI, and my mom lived on a dairy farm when she was a child. I would love to be able to give my family fresh cows milk, but there is no where really local for us. I've thought about goats, but my husband doesn't like goats milk products and the kids and I have never tasted fresh goats milk so I would hate to get into it and find out none of us like it! I did discover there is a dairy farm opening soon in Casa Grande though that will be distributing their products. I'm praying their products come to Tucson as we go there about once a month.

 

[a little chiken]

I almost lost a quail today. I was out collecting eggs, went back in the house for 15 minutes, went back outside and in that time something tried to pull one of my quail hens through the wire! She was upside down and it had gotten her wing's carpal joing wedged out through the wire. She was a bloody mess! I was able to wiggle her wing back out through the wire and brought her inside, but sent my terriers out to keep whatever it was away. It may have been a cat or fox, but there was not enough damage to the wing really. It was really just some skin missing. I highly suspect it was the roadrunner that has been in the yard a couple of times eyeing the quail.

I think a hawk would not have let the quail go so easily unless I got too close so there would have been some large wings flapping and I saw and heard nothing. Of course this was one of the white quail (and one I stupidly had named), they are always the first to get picked on and evidently to get preyed on too. I'm thinking the white girls may need to go live with Miguel in Tucson. Anyway, little Cricket is back outside but in a cage by herself since quail are like chickens with wounds or blood and her former cage mates would pick on her until she was healed.

Ah poor Cricket.

. We have some rabbit cages. I was told those are good for quail. We really want to build an Avery in our front yard so we can sit and watch them when we eat outside etc. You have been having roadrunner issues haven't you? what about putting shiny streamers around your quail? I know it scares hawks it might scare roadrunners.

 

[Macboat]

I laughed when I read this he however is taking it very serious.... Maybe too serious. I heard him get up and walk outside in the middle of the night, he said he was checking on the chickens but I'm pretty sure he was peeing out there. Oh man.

Too funny! When we drank at a buddy's yard we always go to side yard his wife is not happy! Now we can explain to her it is for the good cause......