Yesterday I went outside and found a huge hole dug in our "pet cemetery". It was dug all the way down(3ft) to where I could see our RIR that died a few weeks ago. My stepfather covered it up and put a big stump on top of it. Just a few minutes ago, the dogs started barking. I looked out the window and there was a possum digging around the stump. He went outside with a shotgun, but it ran before he got to it. This area is about 300ft from the chicken and goat shed. I went out to shut the chickens in (normally never do), and the ducks were in a nesting box. They have their own nest on the floor but the were way up in the middle nesting box, right below the rooster.
Do you think the possum or something could be going in and eating the chicken food, and leave the chickens alone? It is weird that the ducks are doing this, but then again, they do act more like chickens than ducks most of the time anyways. This could just be one of their new things. We actually have a door on the run that we use to let the chickens out into the goat pen to free range. It has hinges and we haven't gotten around to actually putting a lock on it. The critter could just be opening the door and walking right on up the ramp into the coop. There has been no signs of stress with the flock, but then again, this could just be going on for a while and they just don't care anymore.
We are getting a lock tomorrow morning, and are going to be starting to lock them in at night now.
I wanted to add that we have multiple areas around the yard that we keep cat food at. Last summer, my stepfather shot around 8 possums and 3 racoons. We have never lost a bird in the last 6yrs to a predator. Do you think that the local critters around here are just content eating the cat food that they get for free with no trouble, or will they start to go after live animals soon?
Do you think the possum or something could be going in and eating the chicken food, and leave the chickens alone? It is weird that the ducks are doing this, but then again, they do act more like chickens than ducks most of the time anyways. This could just be one of their new things. We actually have a door on the run that we use to let the chickens out into the goat pen to free range. It has hinges and we haven't gotten around to actually putting a lock on it. The critter could just be opening the door and walking right on up the ramp into the coop. There has been no signs of stress with the flock, but then again, this could just be going on for a while and they just don't care anymore.
We are getting a lock tomorrow morning, and are going to be starting to lock them in at night now.
I wanted to add that we have multiple areas around the yard that we keep cat food at. Last summer, my stepfather shot around 8 possums and 3 racoons. We have never lost a bird in the last 6yrs to a predator. Do you think that the local critters around here are just content eating the cat food that they get for free with no trouble, or will they start to go after live animals soon?
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