Hey all.
I *think* that someone is messing with my flock and I don't know if I'm being paranoid or if something very out of the ordinary is happening.
I have two coops. One that has 13 chickens, 1 roo and 12 hens. They are EE and have been hatched and raised together. They are in a tractor that is large enough for them to roost in and have a huge secure run to move around in. (I dont know the exact square footage, but my dh who put it in, it's nearly 3 times what they need and yes, he spoiles them.
)
The other is a 10'by10' dog kennel that houses my now 1 silkie roo and 1 silkie hen. We didn't lose any, we just had 2 roo's to one hen when they were all supposed to be hens,one roo got rehomed, no big deal. They are separated right now since my silkie hen had wry neck and when she's in the dog run, the roo and hen are separated with chicken wire so he can't pick on her or try to mate.
Now, this is where it gets weird. Both coops are directly behind our house. I mean within 2 feet of the house so we always hear what's going on. We do rent, and our landlord has no problems with us having livestock, he has some chickens himself, so that isn't a problem.
The problem is there is a mobile home about 20 feet behind us in the backyard. It's been a constant problem with other renters, but with the latest couple that moved in, they are used to the city
, so they had the power company install a big old honkin' huge streetlight so the husband could see to get 20 steps from the driveway to the front porch. This was without the landlord's permission.
That was bad enough, but worse was when after we moved the tractor coop and fencing, etc, the chickens started to wake up and peck around in the middle of the night.
Guess what started soon after??? Yup....crowing a 2:30-3:00am in the morning and a crowing contest all late night long.
I could deal with that, just lock up the tractor to keep the hens in. That worked, but the crowing contest kept on even after that so I've left the door open. They are secure, and are safe, so even if the crowing keeps up, it really doesn't make a difference.
Well, today, I woke up to a door standing wide open in the silkie pen, (Poppy, the hen was in the brooder because it was raining and she is just now fully recovered from wry neck and I wasn't taing any chances with her) Robbie the silkie roo in the pen WITH THE DOOR OPEN, and his comb totally bloodied, feathers missing, and highly agitated.
I look in the EE pen and see Romeo dripping blood from his comb,feathers missing from the exact same place on his head that he had fighting with the roo that he grew up with and is now re homed, both winded, hostile and agitated. The gate was shut on the EE pen but they had obviously been fighting. Everyone else was where they were supposed to be.
I had to stay up all night with DH not feeling well with a job situation that is aggrivating him, so I went to bed about 7am. Everyone was fine, penned in and safe then, so this had to have happened between 7 am and 11:30 am when dh woke me up about this. So, I got Poppy out of the brooder, put her in with Robbie the rooseparated by chicken wire so they can't get to each other, and got Romeo and put him in the brooder because the hens were picking at his comb and wattles.
I am steaming mad about this right now because there is NO way that those two roos could have gotten together without someone putting them that way! Sometimes the dog kennel is latched and sometimes it isn't but either way, it's a pain in the neck to open without hurting yourself or the silkies, so it's someone who's been watching me daily. (There is a secret with this kennel, it will fall down if you don't know how to open the gate just right, we're waiting on getting a welder out here to repair it.)
The second thing that makes me think it's a two legger that's annoyed at the crowing at night is that Romeo NEVER, EVER, EVER gets out of the secure pen unless it's when I let them out to free range. He doesn't fly, he's too big and he couldn't get out if he tried. And I'm ready to shoot that stupid streetlight OUT.
So, now.... I'm angry, and ready to put padlocks on everything along with electric fence, I have two bloodied up roos, and am exhausted. I've been up since 11:20 am and had about 3 hours sleep before that.
Am I paranoid or are people getting into the dog run and causing trouble with the roos???
I *think* that someone is messing with my flock and I don't know if I'm being paranoid or if something very out of the ordinary is happening.
I have two coops. One that has 13 chickens, 1 roo and 12 hens. They are EE and have been hatched and raised together. They are in a tractor that is large enough for them to roost in and have a huge secure run to move around in. (I dont know the exact square footage, but my dh who put it in, it's nearly 3 times what they need and yes, he spoiles them.
The other is a 10'by10' dog kennel that houses my now 1 silkie roo and 1 silkie hen. We didn't lose any, we just had 2 roo's to one hen when they were all supposed to be hens,one roo got rehomed, no big deal. They are separated right now since my silkie hen had wry neck and when she's in the dog run, the roo and hen are separated with chicken wire so he can't pick on her or try to mate.
Now, this is where it gets weird. Both coops are directly behind our house. I mean within 2 feet of the house so we always hear what's going on. We do rent, and our landlord has no problems with us having livestock, he has some chickens himself, so that isn't a problem.
The problem is there is a mobile home about 20 feet behind us in the backyard. It's been a constant problem with other renters, but with the latest couple that moved in, they are used to the city
That was bad enough, but worse was when after we moved the tractor coop and fencing, etc, the chickens started to wake up and peck around in the middle of the night.
Guess what started soon after??? Yup....crowing a 2:30-3:00am in the morning and a crowing contest all late night long.
I could deal with that, just lock up the tractor to keep the hens in. That worked, but the crowing contest kept on even after that so I've left the door open. They are secure, and are safe, so even if the crowing keeps up, it really doesn't make a difference.
Well, today, I woke up to a door standing wide open in the silkie pen, (Poppy, the hen was in the brooder because it was raining and she is just now fully recovered from wry neck and I wasn't taing any chances with her) Robbie the silkie roo in the pen WITH THE DOOR OPEN, and his comb totally bloodied, feathers missing, and highly agitated.
I look in the EE pen and see Romeo dripping blood from his comb,feathers missing from the exact same place on his head that he had fighting with the roo that he grew up with and is now re homed, both winded, hostile and agitated. The gate was shut on the EE pen but they had obviously been fighting. Everyone else was where they were supposed to be.
I had to stay up all night with DH not feeling well with a job situation that is aggrivating him, so I went to bed about 7am. Everyone was fine, penned in and safe then, so this had to have happened between 7 am and 11:30 am when dh woke me up about this. So, I got Poppy out of the brooder, put her in with Robbie the rooseparated by chicken wire so they can't get to each other, and got Romeo and put him in the brooder because the hens were picking at his comb and wattles.
I am steaming mad about this right now because there is NO way that those two roos could have gotten together without someone putting them that way! Sometimes the dog kennel is latched and sometimes it isn't but either way, it's a pain in the neck to open without hurting yourself or the silkies, so it's someone who's been watching me daily. (There is a secret with this kennel, it will fall down if you don't know how to open the gate just right, we're waiting on getting a welder out here to repair it.)
The second thing that makes me think it's a two legger that's annoyed at the crowing at night is that Romeo NEVER, EVER, EVER gets out of the secure pen unless it's when I let them out to free range. He doesn't fly, he's too big and he couldn't get out if he tried. And I'm ready to shoot that stupid streetlight OUT.
So, now.... I'm angry, and ready to put padlocks on everything along with electric fence, I have two bloodied up roos, and am exhausted. I've been up since 11:20 am and had about 3 hours sleep before that.
Am I paranoid or are people getting into the dog run and causing trouble with the roos???
