From 20 to 16

[gtaus]

Too bad, they LOVE being out.

Sorry for your loss.

I often wonder how many times we pass on our human emotions to animals that may or may not feel any way the same as we do. I would love to let my chickens free range on my property, I have 3 wooded acres. But I have confined my girls to a chicken run with fencing and bird netting on top to protect them from predators. So far, I have not suffered a predator attack.

 

[gtaus]

My neighbor free ranges his chickens, and they also wander into the woods. He loses all of them every year to predators, mostly coyotes, and has to start over with a new flock. I have never figured out why he continues to do it this way. They coyotes know where to come for chicken dinner.

Yeah, I think about that too. I imagine some people enjoy getting those cute little chicks and raising them at home, and then watching them run around the yard doing what chickens do, and then if a predator takes them tell themselves it was not their fault. Then they get to start all over again with the cute little chicks...

Before I got my chicks, I talked to our local 4H poultry coordinator and he told me similar stories of parents telling him that they had "bad luck" with their chickens and that they got killed by predators. He always asks them if all the birds were killed in one attack. They always say no, they lost a few birds every now and then over a period of months. To which he responds to them, you don't have bad luck, you have bad management.

 

[ValerieJ]

Yeah, I think about that too. I imagine some people enjoy getting those cute little chicks and raising them at home, and then watching them run around the yard doing what chickens do, and then if a predator takes them tell themselves it was not their fault. Then they get to start all over again with the cute little chicks...

Before I got my chicks, I talked to our local 4H poultry coordinator and he told me similar stories of parents telling him that they had "bad luck" with their chickens and that they got killed by predators. He always asks them if all the birds were killed in one attack. They always say no, they lost a few birds every now and then over a period of months. To which he responds to them, you don't have bad luck, That wouldn't fit with this man's personality. I think he actually wants the chickens to live. He also has other livestock and he is a farrier by trade. I don't know him well enough to ask him what he is thinking, but I'm sure it's not a desire to raise chicks every year. It is all very odd to me. And, poor chickens!

 

[MROO]

Too bad you can't explain...it's for your safety!

Yup, it would make life easier ... then again, if we can't get our teenagers to understand that concept, how in the world could we expect our chickens to accept it?

 

[MROO]

Yeah, I think about that too. I imagine some people enjoy getting those cute little chicks and raising them at home, and then watching them run around the yard doing what chickens do, and then if a predator takes them tell themselves it was not their fault. Then they get to start all over again with the cute little chicks...

Before I got my chicks, I talked to our local 4H poultry coordinator and he told me similar stories of parents telling him that they had "bad luck" with their chickens and that they got killed by predators. He always asks them if all the birds were killed in one attack. They always say no, they lost a few birds every now and then over a period of months. To which he responds to them, you don't have bad luck, you have bad management.

Yup, Yup YUP!

 

[MROO]

Sorry for your loss.

I often wonder how many times we pass on our human emotions to animals that may or may not feel any way the same as we do. I would love to let my chickens free range on my property, I have 3 wooded acres. But I have confined my girls to a chicken run with fencing and bird netting on top to protect them from predators. So far, I have not suffered a predator attack.

I'm inclined to agree, except that in this case, the little buggers insist on trying to get out any chance they get. If they don't exactly "love" free ranging ... a lot of them definitely seem to prefer it!

 

[Yeppers]

Sorry for your losses. Sounds like either coyote or fox. Could you run a few strands of electric fence around the area your chickens forage in? May be easier and cheaper (and more effective) than a tall wooden fence.

Good idea. no power at the coop but I think they have the solar kind. I will look into that.

 

[Yeppers]

Sorry for your losses and be on the lookout. The predator will return.

They are staying in for now. Like I said, coyotes out my way are savages. They have been known to wear out deer and eat them from the backside forward just because they can.

 

[chickenlittle21]

do you have any dogs? could be a dog.

 

[Mimi13]

you don't have bad luck, you have bad management

Absolutely! I cannot and will not ever understand people who do not take any kind of animal stewardship seriously. There’s a special place for them. This is a subject that I could easily rant on forever. I have no tolerance for this special kind of idiot.