Around 8 months ago I lost two birds to a neighbors dog while I was at work. I patched up the fence where I thought that it got through, but a couple nights later I heard a ruckus in my coop. I ran out, but didn't see what it was. It had snatched my last banty from the roost and she was pretty messed up on her head. I cleaned her up, gave her antibiotics and sugar water for a couple days but she developed neurological symptoms so I ended up putting her out of her misery.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I got busy and forgot to close up the run. The girls have a 20x20' run, but think that they are dying if I don't let them out to forage for figs, berries, and bugs in the yard when I'm home. My parents were in town visiting, and we all ran into the yard around midnight when we heard one of the girls squawking up a storm. Two of the girls were bleeding from their combs, one was trying to get into my house and the other was pretty stunned and missing a bunch of feathers. Same MO as whatever got my banty. Dad and my BF went to the feed store the next day and lit up the top of my run with hot wire. It now looks like Fort Knox, and I'm paranoid that I will hit my face on it.
I live trapped a skunk in my yard before, but didn't think that they would climb the fence. However, last night around dusk I noticed the distinct smell of skunk wafting into my window. When I got home from work this am it still smells and is stronger in the vicinity of the coop. I'm guessing he tried to get over the fence and got zapped....I'm assuming he is what has been stealing eggs, and probably he sneaks in to eat their pellets, but will a skunk try and snatch a large fowl off the roost? I was thinking it was probably a coon. I guess it could be that I just have a popular back yard and its a zoo out there at night.
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I got busy and forgot to close up the run. The girls have a 20x20' run, but think that they are dying if I don't let them out to forage for figs, berries, and bugs in the yard when I'm home. My parents were in town visiting, and we all ran into the yard around midnight when we heard one of the girls squawking up a storm. Two of the girls were bleeding from their combs, one was trying to get into my house and the other was pretty stunned and missing a bunch of feathers. Same MO as whatever got my banty. Dad and my BF went to the feed store the next day and lit up the top of my run with hot wire. It now looks like Fort Knox, and I'm paranoid that I will hit my face on it.
I live trapped a skunk in my yard before, but didn't think that they would climb the fence. However, last night around dusk I noticed the distinct smell of skunk wafting into my window. When I got home from work this am it still smells and is stronger in the vicinity of the coop. I'm guessing he tried to get over the fence and got zapped....I'm assuming he is what has been stealing eggs, and probably he sneaks in to eat their pellets, but will a skunk try and snatch a large fowl off the roost? I was thinking it was probably a coon. I guess it could be that I just have a popular back yard and its a zoo out there at night.
