Chickens and Wild Mushrooms- Be careful!

[MarkJP]

Well that’s morbid, you should seriously press charges against them. That’s terrible that someone would do that, and you should really call the police or something. Awful people. I thought chickens knew what was poisonous for the most part, I was freaking out when I saw my chickens catch a monarch butterfly! They dropped it after a minute and left it there to die. I hope things don’t escalate with the chickens, and they stay happy and healthy. Sorry for your loss and hope you do okay!

Thank you Fishsticks. I would have called the police, but there was no evidence of who did it. My wife and I have our suspicions that one of two individuals may have done it....two dead beat boyfriends of my 2 daughters are our suspects. But that is all we can do. We have actually replaced her with 3 new chickens and all are doing well. The locks are a pain, but a necessity during the night!

 

[MarkJP]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You could put up a surveillance or game cam and maybe catch or deter future issues.

I had thought of that. I do have a game camera and could put that up. The issue with that is that at night, it uses a flash which the intruder would see. He could then destroy the camera as well. Any other thoughts?

 

[MarkJP]

That's not kool at all....
My girls are going to be 4 weeks old tomorrow...
My backyard neighbor has been a problem for the 10 years since we brought our house. The other day he told my wife to stop spying on him and he better not caught her walking our dogs in front of his house.
I have already spoken to him about treating my wife...
Because of our flock I would like to keep the peace with him. I have a copy of the city laws printed out just incase someone from the city show's up..
I'm afraid one of the girls maybe a roo.
Which is legal in our city but if someone complains it's a no go.
But I will not let anyone disrespect my wife...

Steven- Lock your chickens up!

 

[MarkJP]

So sorry! I'd talk to the local police, and set up a camera too. And reinforce your security. Can you do electric fencing? Or a good perimeter fence?
Chickens tend to avoid bad stuff when they are ranging and have lots of choices, but offered one thing when confined, certainly might eat some of it.
It's good to have nice neighbors, and more space too.
Mary

Hi Folly, We don't free range, but they do have a very large enclosed run attached to the coop. We suspect that the intruder simply opened the run door (it is human sized) and tossed the mushroom into the nearest corner. That is where I found it in the morning. I have locked the coop and run doors and plan to try out my game camera. Thanks for your support

 

[Fishsticks06]

I had thought of that. I do have a game camera and could put that up. The issue with that is that at night, it uses a flash which the intruder would see. He could then destroy the camera as well. Any other thoughts?

Is there a way to remove the motion sensor light? If not, you could probably set it up to discourage someone from committing anymore crime. I don’t believe criminals like being caught.

 

[JAE1974]

I had thought of that. I do have a game camera and could put that up. The issue with that is that at night, it uses a flash which the intruder would see. He could then destroy the camera as well. Any other thoughts?

Most game cameras have infrared capabilities now (sans flash) and the prices are not as bad as they were ten years ago. But if nothing else you could at least put up a dummy surveillance camera that has a red light on it as a possible deterrent.

I would also contact the local law enforcement and report every incident when it occurs, that way they is an official log of the criminal behavior.

Good luck and hope you have no more troubles.

 

[MarkJP]

Is there a way to remove the motion sensor light? If not, you could probably set it up to discourage someone from committing anymore crime. I don’t believe criminals like being caught.

That's true. If I put the camera out of reach but aimed it downward, then it just might be a good deterrent!

 

[MarkJP]

Most game cameras have infrared capabilities now (sans flash) and the prices are not as bad as they were ten years ago. But if nothing else you could at least put up a dummy surveillance camera that has a red light on it as a possible deterrent.

I would also contact the local law enforcement and report every incident when it occurs, that way they is an official log of the criminal behavior.

Good luck and hope you have no more troubles.

Thanks for the insight JAE. I will do that!

 

[Steven Bussell]

Steven- Lock your chickens up!

Yes... right now we are having to train them to put themselves to bed. Every night they are getting better at it