Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye you posted while I was posting. I am so sorry!!! That is so upsetting. No a cat would not do that. For one thing they can't eat the bones and harder tissue and have trouble tearing meat with their little teeth. My cats watch chicks but don't bother them and they are scared to death of older birds. A possum will eat the torso and leave the spine and the wings so that might have been it, but it sounds like they got more than that. I think perhaps a fox or something similar might have done it but they normally tend to carry their prey off. I would think the bars in your barn would be too close together for a coyote to get in. A raccoon will eat everything but the wings but they often just kill to be killing. Could you tell if they had had their heads popped off? I would be guessing a maybe a family of coons. I'll bet whatever it is comes back....so get that trap set.
Was Mr. Meat okay or was he still out there?
What a tremendous loss. I'd be sure to give the ones that got bitten a shot of penicillin for a few days and be sure that any bite marks are really flushed out good.

Thank you! I didn't think of the pencillin! I'll get right out and get them shot up with it! Mr Meat is fine. I'm going to be driving him down to OKC tomorrow to his new home. The birds have all been moved out now. I'm going to talk with my neighbor and borrow their trap. The only body still there had her head flattened.. it looked like it might have been chewed on. I couldn't tell very well, she was kind of mess.

 

[chicken danz]

If she still had her head I am guessing maybe fox or coon. They can climb but I've seen that stall and I'm not sure if they can climb that well. An owl would have popped off heads and coons often do. Owls would pluck heads. I can only imagine how sick you feel. It's almost like starting over again.
I agree, I think the guy should have been charged with reckless driving....or at least given a stern warning about his dangerous actions....just for his own sake to keep him from doing something that stupid again. They were too busy defending the fact that he was a concerned citizen. A concerned citizen could have gotten the tag number and vehicle description while we were still in the parking lot and called it in. Done! I am sure the sheriff's officers saw his antics but they were too focused on us being thieves. Makes you wonder about spending several hundred dollars at a time in their community.

 

[HEChicken]

Ahhh okay, I change my mind about coyotes then - I wasn't picturing the set up right. In that case, I agree with Danz, it might have been a family of raccoons. Oh - I did want to say on the one that you can't find injuries but she isn't doing well, she may just be in shock from the terror of it all. I found that my birds who were witnesses to the fox attack last year were definitely reacting to it in the days afterwards, being very jumpy and fearful. They wouldn't range far from the coop at all and mostly stayed in hiding. On the second day, when I was down there waiting for it to come back, my head hen stayed by me and started singing the egg song as soon as she saw him but it was a very anxious sound and I know she was doing it because she was terrified. If your bird was nearby watching the carnage she may have been so terrified that she has retreated into a state of shock, and time will overcome.

Danz, that is a crazy story - so glad no one was hurt and you were able to satisfy LE that you were on the up and up.

 

[Hawkeye95]

If she still had her head I am guessing maybe fox or coon. They can climb but I've seen that stall and I'm not sure if they can climb that well. An owl would have popped off heads and coons often do. Owls would pluck heads. I can only imagine how sick you feel. It's almost like starting over again.
I agree, I think the guy should have been charged with reckless driving....or at least given a stern warning about his dangerous actions....just for his own sake to keep him from doing something that stupid again. They were too busy defending the fact that he was a concerned citizen. A concerned citizen could have gotten the tag number and vehicle description while we were still in the parking lot and called it in. Done! I am sure the sheriff's officers saw his antics but they were too focused on us being thieves. Makes you wonder about spending several hundred dollars at a time in their community.

I would be pretty upset over the ordeal last night. I'm sorry that happened. I guess it would have to be a racoon then... I can't imagine a fox climbing that stall front.

Ahhh okay, I change my mind about coyotes then - I wasn't picturing the set up right. In that case, I agree with Danz, it might have been a family of raccoons. Oh - I did want to say on the one that you can't find injuries but she isn't doing well, she may just be in shock from the terror of it all. I found that my birds who were witnesses to the fox attack last year were definitely reacting to it in the days afterwards, being very jumpy and fearful. They wouldn't range far from the coop at all and mostly stayed in hiding. On the second day, when I was down there waiting for it to come back, my head hen stayed by me and started singing the egg song as soon as she saw him but it was a very anxious sound and I know she was doing it because she was terrified. If your bird was nearby watching the carnage she may have been so terrified that she has retreated into a state of shock, and time will overcome.

Danz, that is a crazy story - so glad no one was hurt and you were able to satisfy LE that you were on the up and up.

Okay, I bet she is just really in shock. I'll post a picture of her next time I check on her. I'm worried! She is all fluffed over, tail down and hunched over. Won't move. I've picked her up over and over running my hands down her legs, over her back, and pulling her wings out to check them. She seems uninjured....? Sigh. I hope she snaps out of it soon.

 

[cherwill]

My Dh is doing okay we've Been waiting on insurance to clear treatment planned.I got a letter saying it was cleared but not the resection our other surgeon suggested that the right front lobe be removed but current doctor said he isn't a candidate. So plans are chemo & radiation for 7 wks. He been having more headaches, fatigue, anxiety attacks I pray that things go smoothly. The current doctor told us to prepare for the worst and get our things in order

I'm so sorry.

Kuan-- VERY interesting that you didn't like that realtor group either! I've been warning everyone I know against them! LOL In other news...when our family/friends found out that we were not using friends or family for our realtor-- they were kind of upset! My DH and I decided that we would NOT choose one of our friends or family to sell our house because we didn't want to cause any problems. Better to choose an unrelated person to sell our home. It's funny how everyone is taking that personally. That is exactly what we wanted to avoid. They'll get over it, and that is exactly why we didn't choose them!

It was smart not to choose them, even if they're upset now. If you'd chosen one of them, the others would probably be upset and might NOT get over it so easily. If anything went wrong with the showings or sale, or any business talk was taken personally, it could cause bad feelings. In my experience, business doesn't mix well with family and friends.


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I had the crappiest of crap days yesterday. Day from he!!. I'm still sad and upset and angry.. just every emotion and to add that to my already stressed out and frazzled nerves. I came home from church to find that SOMEthing.. I don't know what (maybe racoon or possum??) had come in and killed and eaten 3 of my silkies! My Res Grand Champion Featherleg from the Kansas Classic was dead-- she also took 1st place at Nationals *cry*. Then my blue bird I had JUST bought from another breeder-- and was still too young to lay yet--- only her wings were left. And a 3rd bird... I don't know who it was, and I've gone over in my mind which one it was.... There were no legs left, so I couldn't find their bands to determine who it was. Only Zebbie-- my Featherleg champ wasn't eaten-- she had been plucked and started in on eating... but most of her body was there, and I think whatever killed her heard me come into the barn and took off. I fed horses first, took care of the other birds and then walked into the silkie pen to see a horror show-- feathers, body parts and blood. I about threw up, I was so sick and so upset. I moved everyone out of the barn and back into the pen under the deck and they will be back in the garage which my DH will KILL me over because we're trying to sell the house and get the birds OUT of the garage. I still have my best rooster. I have my 2nd best pullet... but I didn't have a lot of hope that she would produce as well as my Zebbie. I cant even go back and re-create another Zebbie, because Zelda (her mom) died this winter! I was just thankful that I had her!! And now I don't. I have 3 other birds that have injuries-- one is missing her tail and has bite marks in her back. The other one I gave her a full bath and blow-out last night to get her cleaned up. I think they will both make it.. I hope. The 3rd one needs a bath and blow-out this morning. She's not doing that great. She's standing in one spot refusing to move. I don't even see any injuries on her! Which is why I took care of the other two first since they had blood and bite marks. I'll have to bathe her and see if I can see any injuries on her. Sigh.

I don't have anywhere near enough experience with predators to guess, but I'm sorry it did so much damage. I'd be very upset, too.

I have got a story for you all that would have been upsetting had I been in a huge rush, but as it was I was getting a good laugh out of people.

The civilian was the worst kind of fool, especially when he ran you off the road. I can't believe he wasn't sent away immediately, for his own safety. The deputies had no way of knowing you weren't dangerous. I'm also surprised that they didn't run your plate, and whatever other identification was on the trailer, before even approaching you. That's usually the first thing they do, in case you have a record or warrants. It would make a difference in how they approach you and your vehicle.

2 white, 4 buff, and 4 black

Sounds like you found them all, though some of the colors are off (not surprising; the pic isn't that good). One of the blacks is just half a head and a comb, I think! Hechicken, there IS a bird in the herb spiral. Good eye! Before I took the picture, I had to count twice to be sure they were all there. We had a nice time last night, sitting outside with dinner and watching the birds. We also got a kick out of a couple of finches that kept going into the coop and coming out with white feathers. Then they'd fly off; lining their nests, I'd guess.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Cherwill-- meant to say I only counted 9. I found the one in the herbs.. but don't see the 10th.

Here's pictures of my worst injury... I thought the one last night was bad, but I think this one is worse.

When she was dry and fluffed, I never guessed that almost her ENTIRE back had been plucked! Half her tail is gone and I can see her oil gland-- which is in tact. She's got wounds in there too. Just took these. She's under the dryer now to get blown out, she's all nice and clean now and after she's about half way blown out, I'll start treating the wounds and then finish drying. Hopefully after her treatments she'll feel better.




This shows the horrible plucking she endured!! Once she got wet-- it was obvious where her wounds were.











Then... this is my shell-shocked bird. I think I might go ahead and bathe her too-- just to be certain I'm not missing any injuries under all her fluff! See how her tail is down and she's hunched over? I don't think she's moved from that spot since I got them in this pen.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm sure they had probably ran the plate if the guy gave it to them. But that only contains name and address of the owner; not vital statistics like birth date. I should have given him my driver's license. If you put my name and birth date in NCIC you get a hit. Normally that means you are a wanted criminal. My information is in there and comes back a hit but it says Police Officer Only under the information rather than listing warrants. I did some undercover work and therefore had to get FBI clearance which put me in the system. I got stopped once when I was a police officer and the dispatcher just saw the hit and didn't get the information read before announcing it to the officer. They had a backup car show up before she came back on the radio and gave the correct information. So running my name could have made this even more fun. I guess I shouldn't laugh but it's easier to look at the comedy than to be upset.
I am a total supporter of police officers. Once in your blood you don't loose that. However I have no room or respect at all for shoddy poor unprofessional officers. I really have trouble watching TV sometimes because of the dumb mistakes I see made on shows, lack of reality, and seeing botched investigations.
DH was also a police officer/firefighter but in a smaller community, where I was an officer in OKC, OK. So together we see things on two levels.

 

[TheDownyChick]

Oh dear. Your poor birdie! She has endured much, indeed. I sure hope she makes it. Bathing the other would be a good idea. Birds are prey animals and therefore experts at hiding wounds. I hope it is only shock, and that she pops out of it soon!

Cherwill-- meant to say I only counted 9. I found the one in the herbs.. but don't see the 10th. Here's pictures of my worst injury... I thought the one last night was bad, but I think this one is worse. When she was dry and fluffed, I never guessed that almost her ENTIRE back had been plucked! Half her tail is gone and I can see her oil gland-- which is in tact. She's got wounds in there too. Just took these. She's under the dryer now to get blown out, she's all nice and clean now and after she's about half way blown out, I'll start treating the wounds and then finish drying. Hopefully after her treatments she'll feel better. This shows the horrible plucking she endured!! Once she got wet-- it was obvious where her wounds were. Then... this is my shell-shocked bird. I think I might go ahead and bathe her too-- just to be certain I'm not missing any injuries under all her fluff! See how her tail is down and she's hunched over? I don't think she's moved from that spot since I got them in this pen.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ugh-- as I'm drying Spock out-- the injured bird in the pictures above-- I found more gruesome wounds under her other wing that I missed until I was drying her out. She has her penicillin shot now and has triple antibiotic on her wounds.


For comparison....

shocked or injured?? .....and healthy and happy

SAME BIRD in both pictures.... see how her tail is down?

 

[chicken danz]

Hawkeye I've been researching trying to identify the shape of that bite. Not a lot of information out there but from what I read I think your predator(s) were raccoon. Make sure you keep that one bird warm and give it some probiotics. I am sure it is traumatized and depressed. It just needs to feel safe and secure again.