I have had a rough time with a predator. As I'm typing this I am helpless and hopeless 1,200 miles away from home, while my poor chickens get eradicated! About a week before I left to go on vacation, I found a small, blonde dog in my yard harrassing a chicken. I ran the dog off and my poor hen was so exhausted she couldn't run from the dog anymore. The dog didn't leave any marks, but pulled out many feathers. I moved her to my utility room indoors so she wouldn't die from heat stroke, and once she was calm and stopped panting, I let her back out with the others. Then I did a head count and found my favorite hen under my shed, dead! I was so upset. The dog was a stray, and my b/f took care of that problem. Then I leave for vacation. My b/f is coming behind me by two weeks, then is planning on being out here for another two weeks, then we're all driving back together. Well two days after I arrive at my parents house, he calls me and tells me that he found a dead hen just outside the coop. He said she didn't have a mark on her, but there were feathers all over the front yard that led him to her in the back yard. Since the pest dog (the only one we knew of) was taken care of, we couldn't figure out for the life of us what could have done this. It couldn't be a predator because you would think it would eat it on the spot or at least carry it off! My b/f works changing shifts and just started night shift this week and said he had left the front gate open but would make sure to close it from now on in case another dog was getting in. I asked him to please do a head count and make sure no other hens were missing.
well, I don't think he ever did until four days later, when he just called me 10 minutes ago and said he can only find 6 of my 19 birds!!!!!!!!! Feathers are everywhere, and he found a wing in the front yard!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!! I'm soooooo upset!!!! My poor hens and my last roo!!!!
what's worse, I called my girlfriend who only lives 5 acres away and asked if she's seen anything, she and her husband said that they heard a loud ruckuss coming from my homes direction that sounded like dogs fighting in the middle of the night about 5 days ago but they couldn't tell if it was my house or my neighbor on the other side of me!!!
Now that the tears are starting to dry up I'm starting to get very angry!!! I really don't want to be mad at my b/f because he works all the time and just can't be there to keep a watch 24/7 like I can when I'm home! And now I'm 1,200 miles away and can't be there to protect what's left of my traumatized flock!!!
I feel so helpless! And I'm afraid I won't have any birds left by the time I can get home!
