Got a call at work this afternoon from the kids who were borderline hysterical. Something(s) had attacked the chickens as they free ranged early this afternoon. I headed home and just had a pit in my stomach as I pulled into the driveway. Feather piles everywhere, one dead buff lying in the field and the kids walking around looking under trees. DH had gotten home before me and was helping look for "survivors." At that point they had 12 of the girls in the coop (out of 27!). We found 4 more chickens alive in the woods and hiding under some cedars in the yard. Then we started finding the dead chickens buried all over the place - over a good 2 acre area! ...in the sand pile, in wood shavings, in leaves, in pine needles, in the plowed field. That pit in my stomach had turned into a crater. The attack happened in about an hour (between 12:30-1:40 p.m). Found 7 dead/buried and have 4 MIA.
99% sure I'm up against a fox (or two)...maybe looking to feed a den of kits. Now we've had fox nearby and on our property since our chicken adventure began 2 years ago. This is the first time we had an attack. Our indoor/outdoor cat that actually fended off a fox by our garden last summer, was diagnosed with liver cancer last week and has not been outside for almost 2 weeks. I'm thinking he was the fox deterrent and now that he's not outside laying down the law, the fox is thinking "Game ON!"
So between the chicken massacre and our family pet on the verge of death...it's been an AWEFUL day. Pretty sure that although I bought a couple lottery tickets, I'm not wielding the right kind of luck to win over $500 million.
UPDATE...Daisy just showed up outside the coop, so I'm up to 17 survivors...
99% sure I'm up against a fox (or two)...maybe looking to feed a den of kits. Now we've had fox nearby and on our property since our chicken adventure began 2 years ago. This is the first time we had an attack. Our indoor/outdoor cat that actually fended off a fox by our garden last summer, was diagnosed with liver cancer last week and has not been outside for almost 2 weeks. I'm thinking he was the fox deterrent and now that he's not outside laying down the law, the fox is thinking "Game ON!"
So between the chicken massacre and our family pet on the verge of death...it's been an AWEFUL day. Pretty sure that although I bought a couple lottery tickets, I'm not wielding the right kind of luck to win over $500 million.
UPDATE...Daisy just showed up outside the coop, so I'm up to 17 survivors...
