Grin and bear it Predation

[darkmatter]

Ah..........Yes, once again I've had predation upon my chicken flock. I raise enough to handle the occasional fox or redtailed hawk. The wild predators will snatch a chicken and run leaving a pile of feathers as a calling card. However the neighbors dogs have a different Modus Operandi. A dog does not kill to eat and survive, they grab, shake, kill or mutilate, then grab another and another and another. Yes I have shot many a dog over the years, the first time was when I heard the commotion and had a pack of the neighbors dogs in a killing spree with over 20 chickens down and counting with one of the bastards standing over the chicken defending it and threatening me. I gave him the 9mm cure.
This latest time was only one dog and four chickens down and counting when the fool dog came up to me wagging his tail proud at his accomplishments. His collar made a convenient hold point and had the owers phone number on it.....Hah..... I called him and when he came over I had his dog tied up to a tree in the front yard with the pile of dead and dying chickens there. It was worth the price of the chickens to see his face. Apparently this was a valuable hunting type "birddog". He did offer to pay for the chickens, but I asked only for it not to happen again and mentioned having had to shoot "varmints" in the past.
The most interesting predation event was when a redtailed hawk swooped down on a chicken in the chicken pen and entered the chicken coop itself thru the small chicken door and could not find itself the exit. I was gone for a few days during this and the family mentioned how hard it was to get the chickens to go up at night......well duh!, the hawk was sitting on the roost and eating from the buffet at will. The highly observant wife didn't even notice for a few days when collecting the eggs that one of the chickens on the roost was larger and different shape then the others. When the family finally noticed it was simple to leave the large "people door" open for the hawk to fly out. When I got back home I investigated and found many picked cleaned bones in the coop. I wonder why the hawk left, anyway he must of had his fill since he never did the inside coop thing again.

 

[CMV]

I'm sorry for your losses. It's so frustrating raising your birds and then having something else enjoy the benefits of your labors. You still seem to have a good attitude about the whole thing which is a plus. Grin and bear it... and curse under your breath.

 

[briana1975]

Wow a hawk in the coop. I really can't belive they didn't notice.

 

[dancingbear]

That's incredible, that they didn't notice the hawk, or the pile of bones! I'm the main poutry keeper here, sometimes my DH will do or say something that amazes me, (in a similar way) but mostly, he's really good at helping me keep track of what's going on.

It's sounds like your attitude toward predators is similar to ours. We've lost a few birds, (to foxes and raccoons) but over the last 11 years or so, in this location, we've really had very small losses, all things considered. We haven't declared war on wildlife.
I free-range my flock, and close up the coop when they go in at night. My guineas are finally going in at night as well, so I'm no longer losing them here and there, to raccoons (and maybe owls?) at night.

We get an occasional fox, there have been two, over the last 11 years or so. My DH was able to shoot the first one, after it devastated our flock over the course of the summer. We'd stopped letting the birds out except when we were going to be working outside, to keep an eye on them, rifle at hand. Even then, if out attention wavered for just a few seconds, there'd be a sudden ruckus from the birds, and by the time we could react, the fox would be gone, along with another bird. We lost about 17 birds that summer, chickens, guineas, and ducks.

The second one, was less fortunate. We'd acquired a new dog by then, a rescue mutt named Cleo. She's a funny-looking little brown dog, looks like she's part basset hound, and part mystery dog. Turns out, she's the best predator control we've ever had. When B'rer Fox appeared. and grabbed a chicken, Cleo was right after it, and it had to drop the chicken to get away. It did not, however, get away unscathed. She chased him into the woods, and caught him at some point, we heard him yip. Foxes have a very distinctive yip when they get hurt, they don't sound like a dog at all. A little while later, Cleo came back, wagging her tail and looking very pleased with herself, and, of course, we fussed over her and told her what a wonderful dog she is.

B'rer Fox came back repeatedly, but thanks to Cleo, he never got away with a meal, not once. He did get chased through the woods, and bitten by Cleo, several times. Finally, he moved on down the road to a neighbor's place. My neighbor was able to get a good shot and killed him. When he looked at the carcass, he saw that one of the foxes back paws and lower leg had gotten pretty well chewed up by something. When Cleo plays "Grrr Dog", their favorite dog game, with the other dogs, all much larger than she is, she always goes for the back legs and feet, she likes to grab and twist. So that particular wounding was pretty much her signature.

She's also caught and/or treed raccoons, and evicted possums from the coop. She taught the sheepdog how to guard the flock, too.

We don't have any desire to eliminate foxes, or raccoons, or any other predator from the area, but when one becomes a problem, we do what we can to get rid of it. And I hope Cleo is with us for many, many more years. Best dog I've ever had.

Cleo the Wonder Dog

Cleo in my chair, when she thought she I wasn't looking.

Cleo, and Booferd the sheepdog.