Coons wiped out my girls..

[pkloop]

5 girls destroyed..nothing left behind except feathers. This WILL NOT happen again. My girls (my little human ones) were crushed. My wife and I awoke this morning to our children crying "The chickens are gone!!!" They open the coop in the morning and this morning..well..it had already been opened.

We have had a problem with coons being in the coop area. I put screws through our coop door as they tried to scratch their way through. That worked good. They would come around each night and eat left over feed on the ground and darn if one of them didn't find a way to get the coop roof off. Well..they did..and my ladies are only a memory.

Even with an understanding of the food chain I'm personally saddened by the loss.

The girls were quite friendly with me and would actually fly up into my arms to be held/petted.

So..The coop roof (which was removable for getting eggs out) will be extra secured from here on out, the door is getting another dose of armor and I'm going to be hunting this week. We went back to the feed store today and purchased another little flock and Ill be darn if I'm losing this one. The 2 coons that hang around here..quite fearless of people I might add..are going to learn that ranged projectiles suck..especially ones propelled by gunpowder.

I plan on tanning the hides..

 

[NoseyChickens]

Im so sorry.

to your girls

 

[RCROE]

I leave a live trap out at all times and a coon died of lead poisioning last week ..lol

 

[pkloop]

We're using this as a learning experience..my daughters got a first hand lesson on animal behavior. We discussed that the coons aren't "bad" or "mean" they're just coons. They were looking for food and they found some.

This lesson was parlayed into a food-chain discussion too..and while they were weary of my suggestion to eliminate the coons before..(my gut told me to take them out..wish I would have

...They now have a better understanding of why that is something we should do.
They understand that we need to protect our girls.

 

[pkloop]

"and a coon died of lead poisioning last week ..lol"

Hold off on the funeral..there's 2 more that will be attending

 

[Kittymomma]

Sorry to hear that. If you're close to me and want some pretty barnyard mix girls pm me. I have a dozen 1 1/2 & 2 1/2 month olds that are ranging with the big flock and don't need to be in a brooder anymore. Anyhow, You can have 3-4 of them if you want them. I have chicks coming out of my ears right now and ducklings too. I know how my kids would feel if that happened to any of their favorites.

 

[pkloop]

I appreciate the offer kitty..but I'm in S. Florida. The girls were replaced this morning..the peeps are in the house in the brooder.

 

[Kittymomma]

Wow, that's just about as far from where we are as you can get and still be in the U.S.A. What kind(s) of chicks did you get and are you like most of the rest of us when it comes to chicken math--replacing five means you need to get eight, or maybe ten......

 

[3chimama]

So sorry for your loss...I worry about this a lot. We have a raccoon on our property that we are trying to catch....it's hard when there are neighbors on our hill who choose to feed them...;(

 

[pkloop]

"we are trying to catch"--You can catch them real easy with a bucket of chicken livers and a 10mm Glock.