California - Northern

[lawatt]

oh and with somewhat ironic timing, Amelia #2's eggs are hatching today, which are all crossed of Max the SFH roo with various hens -- just checked on her & there's a pip in one of the blue Lucy eggs, and I couldn't see one of the Daisy eggs -- plus i *thought* i heard a soft peep of a new chick, but hard to tell exactly (since there's an older chick in the same coop, one of the three silver campines). so, will see how the eggs do -- but i might end up with a Daisy Jr.! if so, will tell it tales of how lovely its mama was.

also, have been reading up on bobcat behavior -- and given that this one seems to pass through on a fairly regular basis, it's likely to be a mama cat with kittens nearby.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I want a pet bobcat lol

 

[Happy Chooks]

I too have had a visiting bobcat. Unfortunately, I lost my favorite hen to it. It scaled my 6 foot non-climb fence. The next time it showed up, I saw it, and my dog chased it off. It has not been back since that I know of. My run is now covered due to losing a bunch of juveniles to hawks. I always have babies in that run, so it just made sense.

We are up in the foothills, LOTS of predators up here. We have skunks, raccoons, opossum, bobcats, foxes, bears, mountain lions, hawks, and a pair of owls that hoot back and forth at night. We have not seen a mountain lion, but our neighbor has - his dog was on a stand off with it. We have had a bear on our property (prior to having chickens), and I hope it never comes back. Very difficult to deter a bear.

 

[8machines]

right on schedule, just now at 6:30am, the bobcat made its occasional morning visit to the coops -- which are all locked up, & it does not seem to think that it can get in.  the birds are all sounding their alarm calls, and the bobcat only stayed for a moment, then moved on across the meadow.

all native predators prefer less disturbed areas for their habitat, but many of them are also quite adaptable to urban and quasi-urban environments -- when i lived in the middle of SF, in the Lower Haight, there were always lots of raccoons and opossums, and undoubtedly foxes too -- and anyone who lives in an area that has parks or open space nearby is undoubtedly within the hunting range of a few predators at least.  as i understand it, bobcats cover quite large areas as their hunting territory, as large as 10 square miles? which is why a single construction project is unlikely to cause a change in their abundance.  

and we need them to help keep smaller animal populations under some kind of control -- many researchers connect the rise of Lyme disease (carried by ticks, that hang out with deer but also smaller mammals) to the decrease of predator populations, as well as a decrease in human hunting pressure.  and while i am not at all happy about losing three beautiful chickens in a week to my resident bobcat, i can't blame the cat any more than i can blame the deer for coming around snacking on my garden -- which i also dislike, but the solution is for me to (eventually) build a better fence/protections, and/or be more careful/vigilant when i let the chickens free-range.

Wow, 6:30! We dont even get up until 8 and most days I sleep intil 10. Our girls dont even get into their fenced yard until 11 or 12! It is the evenings we worry about preditors but with the heat they are in their yard with the misters. If out we are there.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Yes that is normal. Pullet combs can be white to a blackish color and will often seem to turn red and grow big over night.

Pictures Please!

Ok I will get a pic when I get back home thanks

 

[ChickNmamma]

oh and with somewhat ironic timing, Amelia #2's eggs are hatching today, which are all crossed of Max the SFH roo with various hens -- just checked on her & there's a pip in one of the blue Lucy eggs, and I couldn't see one of the Daisy eggs -- plus i *thought* i heard a soft peep of a new chick, but hard to tell exactly (since there's an older chick in the same coop, one of the three silver campines). so, will see how the eggs do -- but i might end up with a Daisy Jr.! if so, will tell it tales of how lovely its mama was.

also, have been reading up on bobcat behavior -- and given that this one seems to pass through on a fairly regular basis, it's likely to be a mama cat with kittens nearby.

for a Daisy Junior!

I want a pet bobcat lol

Please send all the Silver AMs to my house for safe keeping before you ask for that...

Before I moved over here we had a resident Mountain Lion where I used to live. It used the other ridge for a path, I lived on my ridge. My dog barked and kept it from wanting to investigate my chicken coop on the other side of the gully. Worked for me. I would not call it a pet though. Bobcats are small enough that chickens make a good meal. Mountain Lions prefer bigger prey so it didn't bother me and I am very glad for that.

Over here my neighbors and I all have dogs. My one neighbor has tried goats for the last 10 years, they don't last long. Mountain lions love goats - and their bleating will call one over from miles away. Still no interest in my chickens, for which I remain grateful. My coop could protect them, but their runs would not. I hope and pray that I do not have any bobcats come over to visit. I have had skunk, raccoons, possum, fox, coyotes and that mountain lion - and have lost only the escape artists to the predators. My birds only free range in my yard where I can see them, and only when I am home to watch them - and the dog is outside where they are ranging (she is a good girl). Otherwise they are in their runs and in the coop. Fruit trees are fenced from the deer - they eat what grows outside the fencing, I eat what is left inside the fence or too high for them to reach.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Man I'm glad I have a dog haha. Before I got married I didn't have one and had a fox every other night trying to get into my chicken pen. But now I haven't ha a problem. He sits across the street from my house outside the fence and barks haha. Chickens aren't wild, they're domesticated just like I think of my cats or dog. So if a bobcat, fox, raccoon or whatever tried to get them, I definetly would give a couple warning shots, but only a couple

 

[Hangtown Farms]

for a Daisy Junior!
Please send all the Silver AMs to my house for safe keeping before you ask for that...

Before I moved over here we had a resident Mountain Lion where I used to live. It used the other ridge for a path, I lived on my ridge. My dog barked and kept it from wanting to investigate my chicken coop on the other side of the gully. Worked for me. I would not call it a pet though. Bobcats are small enough that chickens make a good meal. Mountain Lions prefer bigger prey so it didn't bother me and I am very glad for that.

Over here my neighbors and I all have dogs. My one neighbor has tried goats for the last 10 years, they don't last long. Mountain lions love goats - and their bleating will call one over from miles away. Still no interest in my chickens, for which I remain grateful. My coop could protect them, but their runs would not. I hope and pray that I do not have any bobcats come over to visit. I have had skunk, raccoons, possum, fox, coyotes and that mountain lion - and have lost only the escape artists to the predators. My birds only free range in my yard where I can see them, and only when I am home to watch them - and the dog is outside where they are ranging (she is a good girl). Otherwise they are in their runs and in the coop. Fruit trees are fenced from the deer - they eat what grows outside the fencing, I eat what is left inside the fence or too high for them to reach.

Man I'm glad I have a dog haha. Before I got married I didn't have one and had a fox every other night trying to get into my chicken pen. But now I haven't ha a problem. He sits across the street from my house outside the fence and barks haha. Chickens aren't wild, they're domesticated just like I think of my cats or dog. So if a bobcat, fox, raccoon or whatever tried to get them, I definetly would give a couple warning shots, but only a couple

yeah I hear you. Even a Bobcat can kill a dog the size of a German Shepherd. No dog stands any chance against a Mountain Lion. Hopefully no one has to deal with them and there pets lol.
Usually attacks on dogs are do to the cat being cornered.
Would be a bummer to loose a chicken for sure to that but a pet yikes. There was a German Shepherd around here killed by a pack of Coyotes.
A female lured it in and was attacked on all sides.

I worry about that most as generally bobcats/mountain lions stay away from big dogs . Coyotes not so much.
Having kids even more. I see a Mountain Lion / Bobcat I call Fish and Game. A coyote well . They say theres only 1 way to deter a Coyote from coming around. Besides a fence.

 

[Flowers of Abba]

I want a pet bobcat lol

Ah, hahaha ! Yeah right.

Wow, 6:30! We dont even get up until 8 and most days I sleep intil 10. Our girls dont even get into their fenced yard until 11 or 12! It is the evenings we worry about preditors but with the heat they are in their yard with the misters. If out we are there.

Talk about opposite lifestyles! My boys wake me up at 5:30-6 and personal and chores for everyone are done by 8:30. School starts at 8:45 (we homeschool) and if we don't keep that schedule the hens will never get out of the coop because its crazy town after lunch !

Earlier today, I expressed my sympathies about your pullet who lost her life to a bobcat.
I regret posting it!  I still feel bad about the poor little bird because it is a horrific way to die.
I rarely post on this thread, and it is not a nice feeling to be jumped on when I just wanted to relate my kind thoughts about a life lost!

I did not have intentions of getting into a debate about the realities of country living in Sonoma County which is filled with  cattle, sheep, and different livestock farms and ranches.

Yes! each to their own.. or at least should be each to their own!

Well... We live in the sierras ( Tahoe basin) and usually the mountain lions stay lower in the foothills BUT for a few years the coyote population was low Sooo the bunnys came back like gangbusters... Causing more healthy coyotes causing bobcats and mountain lions to move back in.

My point is -there is a cycle if life that transcends elevation and population levels! When food is available and homes disturbed there will be a shift from the normal FOR SURE.

I also may have been sensitive to lawatts choice of words as well BUT giving her the benefit of the double I believe her to be speaking personally?..... The list of predetors in our area seasonally is longer than most and many of them behave in contradiction to nature due to living side by side with man. We need to work together to have healthy happy pets and family. Stick around , we all need each other!

 

[lawatt]

Wow, 6:30! We dont even get up until 8 and most days I sleep intil 10. Our girls dont even get into their fenced yard until 11 or 12! It is the evenings we worry about preditors but with the heat they are in their yard with the misters. If out we are there.

the chickens are always still in their coop/run at 6:30, i've never let them out earlier than 8 or so -- but i think they're going to be limited to late afternoons for a while. but Max starts making occasional noises around 3am, and is pretty much up and about around 6-6:30 -- and I'm a fairly early riser myself, esp. as i get older -- find it hard to sleep later than 7, even with no chicken noises at all.