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- #11
We have a over 6-foot high chain link fence with "blinds" through it, so it's very little visibility through it. I didn't see how he got in, but he cleared it easily on the way out.
I think it intended to take its feast with it, after a snack. The pen door was ripped open and it killed chickens, etc, all over the yard, then stacked them into two very neat piles before it started eating. The only thing not stacked was the goose.
In fact, because of the stacks we initially didn't know the chickens were dead, just the ducks and the goose.
We live in a neighborhood where the houses are really close together. I think we live on .2 acres. (all fenced in) Unfortunately, in these areas, at least where I live, coyotes learn a different type of hunting, as their 'prey' is usually small dogs and cats from peoples' yards.
The stacking and hoarding did make me wonder if maybe it was a female and was going to take food back to kits?
Most of the coyotes around here look terrible-- starved and dying of mange... but this one was beautiful, thick gold and red coat, definitely getting enough to eat. Me and hubby aren't mad at the coyote-- it was just finding food. We're just really sad about the whole thing. The waste is the hardest to deal with.
So we're going to further attempt to pest-proof the chicken area and I'm going to be hatching eggs. I'm trying for a variety of pullets so I can have eggs of all colors
. Of course, this is a funny time to start hatching as I am 33 weeks pregnant and will probably 'hatch' my baby at the same time as my eggs
.
There was no sign of digging, etc, the coyote just managed to clear our rather tall fence and then (somehow) unlatched the coop door. Coyotes are smart, so I guess it's time to out-smart them!
The funny thing is that our yard is dog-proof, as we used to have a dog who would go berserk anytime there was rain and do *anything* to escape and get out of the yard. I guess we never thought vertical, because the dog was 8 at the time (he's 14 now and lives with my MIL down the street) It even took our cat an age to figure out how to get out of the backyard. But, we'll learn from this and just keep truckin'
.
I think it intended to take its feast with it, after a snack. The pen door was ripped open and it killed chickens, etc, all over the yard, then stacked them into two very neat piles before it started eating. The only thing not stacked was the goose.
In fact, because of the stacks we initially didn't know the chickens were dead, just the ducks and the goose.
We live in a neighborhood where the houses are really close together. I think we live on .2 acres. (all fenced in) Unfortunately, in these areas, at least where I live, coyotes learn a different type of hunting, as their 'prey' is usually small dogs and cats from peoples' yards.
The stacking and hoarding did make me wonder if maybe it was a female and was going to take food back to kits?
Most of the coyotes around here look terrible-- starved and dying of mange... but this one was beautiful, thick gold and red coat, definitely getting enough to eat. Me and hubby aren't mad at the coyote-- it was just finding food. We're just really sad about the whole thing. The waste is the hardest to deal with.
So we're going to further attempt to pest-proof the chicken area and I'm going to be hatching eggs. I'm trying for a variety of pullets so I can have eggs of all colors
There was no sign of digging, etc, the coyote just managed to clear our rather tall fence and then (somehow) unlatched the coop door. Coyotes are smart, so I guess it's time to out-smart them!
The funny thing is that our yard is dog-proof, as we used to have a dog who would go berserk anytime there was rain and do *anything* to escape and get out of the yard. I guess we never thought vertical, because the dog was 8 at the time (he's 14 now and lives with my MIL down the street) It even took our cat an age to figure out how to get out of the backyard. But, we'll learn from this and just keep truckin'
