It Never Fails

[what did I do]

You think the girls are safe and content.... then you get a game cam. Then you find that the girls aren't so safe.

Now we knew about the skunk but didn't know it was by the chickens. We said good by to the skunk a few days ago. It was playing cat and mouse with a badger and came within 10 feet of one of my kids. Both skunk and badger are in greener pastures.

Then....

A racoon? that one blindsided us.

So we setup a trap

and what did we catch.

Our cat.

Back to trapping. We are not safe here.

 

[Melabella]

You have gave me my first laugh of the evening!

Brilliant,

Thanks for sharing!

MB

 

[TXchickmum]

 

[CrzyCknLady]

You crack me up! We've gotten two raccoons and a skunk this week too.......I can still smell the stupid skunk and has been a couple of days! We have a driveway alert system set up by our coop so that when something trips it, we can run out with the rifle, maybe even before they end up in the traps we have set....... Stupid predators! Hopefully you catch your coon soon!

 

[what did I do]

Another 2 skunks and a badger found in yard. One sprayed at the house. The another spray by the older chickens. The coop was open! The kids were over there about a half hour before and forgot to close the coop. One skunk was shot.

There is a cow in the corral next to the chicken barn door and a deer with 2 fawns ran out of that area. I was feeling my chickens were safe with the cow there but now..... we are wagering WAR on skunks. Tomorrow all cats get locked up. You can't spray my house and get away with it.

 

[what did I do]

One raccoon down. Another possible downed raccoon down.

A deer with 2 fawns eating in the yard.

 

[what did I do]

I was looking at the SD card from the game cam looking to see if all is well at the chickens at night and suddenly my DD yells, "There is a skunk." It was right outside the window at 10:30 in the morning. How scarry is that? My chickens are still in because we have some that are laying outside the coop.

If you notice in this picture, THE TRAP ISN'T SET.

We are now down another skunk and another badger. we think the badgers are playing cat and mouse with the skunks and end up on our yard. It's ashame that they don't stay in the wide open spaces away from our home. In all the years I have lived here we have never had a problem with badgers being on the yard.

 

[what did I do]

You wont believe what I did night before last. I forgot to shut the top half of the double door to the older chickens. All is well but gosh I could have lost them all.

 

[what did I do]

Last night my daughter locked the dog in with the young chickens and he killed 2 of my Trader Joe Leghorns. One was my most wanted rooster "Buddy Little Big Comb" and an unnamed hen. This is so sad, my kids were looking forward to showing him next year. We have one TJ rooster left.

When I to let the older chickens out of the other coop the stray cat was in the barn in the part that I have my hen called Turkey and her chicks in. She and her chicks made it into the older chickens and stayed safe. None of the chickens looked hurt. I opened the door and the cat made a mad dash into the coop. I then opened up the coop to the outside. The cat found a place to hid in a nesting box until it ran out. The cat has been around since this spring when the chicks were young. The cat has left the chicks alone so I don't know if it will take out a big chicken but the chicks are still a young 6 weeks old. When will the madness end.

 

[jak2002003]

Do skunks and badgers kill chickens?

Is your coop secure to stop them getting in at night?

If the coop was predator proof you might save yourself a lot of time and money on all those traps and getting rid of the animals.