Coyote! RIP Cuckoo Roo

1-duckling

Songster
10 Years
Sep 1, 2009
120
5
101
Washington
Today at 8:15 my husband and I were sitting in the house sipping coffee and chatting. We could see the chickens happily pecking and scratching around out in the pasture just 50 feet away from the house. It was so peaceful and quite. The next thing I know my husband drops his coffee and runs out the door screaming "coyote". I look back out the window and sure enough, a coyote has my 5 year old Cuckoo Maran rooster in his mouth and is heading down the pasture away from the house. Running nearly as fast as the coyote is my dh, sock footed, gesturing and screaming as he chased the triumphant coyote through the pasture. The coyote was so focused he never skipped a beat as he quickly shimmied under the fence to freedom with my dear Cuckoo Roo hanging from his mouth.

The coyote dug a hole that wasn't but maybe 8 inches deep next to the culvert where the creek flows to the neighbors. It's been a warm February so the soil is soft and easily dug. How brave of him to come so close to the house and snag a rooster in broad daylight with cattle dogs patrolling right outside of the pasture. Sad day.
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Oh no!!
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to you!! Darn coyotes anyway...pretty brave being that close. This happened to one of my BR hens not more than 2 weeks ago. They were milling around just outside their run not more than 30 feet from the house and like a flash he grabbed her and ran like hell. He came back in a few days for another snack...we were waiting.
 
Ohh! He was a gorgeous rooster!!
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I think everyone knows how much it sucks to loose birds to predators!! I lost half my flock in one go to a raccoon last year! So just think i know its not much consilation but it could have been worse!
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Thanks everyone. Cuckoo Roo was very pretty, ate out of my hand, was good to the girls, and enjoyed the occasional pet.

Rockin' Reds mentioned the coyote coming back and bobbi-j mentioned gun. Sounds like the little .22 rifle needs to come out of the safe today and be ready for his return. It's been put away since we killed off the rats a couple of years ago. I dug down over a foot deep where the coyote dug under this morning and put in a layer of huge rocks up to the fencing. Now that he knows where he can get a free meal I'm sure he'll dig through somewhere else. To think my hens are the bait...uggh
 

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