Malkaris
Songster
This should probably have been posted in the rambling thread but... it does involve predators.
The stuff that's happened in the last couple of months is just and I shattered my screen so getting back on here for advice took a while...
Anyway! Just this afternoon: 2 separate incidents involving 2 different dogs owned by totally different people from opposite directions!
The first time the hens were free-ranging and a huge dog I've never seen before came into our yard - into our porch even! - and went after my hens. Feathers everywhere and worse. A guy came and grabbed the dog and disappeared. It took 3 hours to get all the hens from where they scattered. Then later another dog was after them - of course they were confined to the coop/run by then but still! Seriously!! Running and barking along the fence after the day they'd already had. I've been free-ranging because they don't tend to go anywhere too crazy and we had an absolute ton of rain : the ground is saturated and their run is a mess.
Still finding blood etc. Had to leave it for tonight. Naturally that afternoon was also an important thing at work, and I felt sick from everything that happened.
I guess at least a couple weeks ago I found out the hens can be defended from weasels by my cats. Not dogs though...
Now there's talk of professional fencing - but it's expensive and choosing a place - especially if it has to be attached to the current run, won't be fun. *sigh*
The stuff that's happened in the last couple of months is just and I shattered my screen so getting back on here for advice took a while...
Anyway! Just this afternoon: 2 separate incidents involving 2 different dogs owned by totally different people from opposite directions!
The first time the hens were free-ranging and a huge dog I've never seen before came into our yard - into our porch even! - and went after my hens. Feathers everywhere and worse. A guy came and grabbed the dog and disappeared. It took 3 hours to get all the hens from where they scattered. Then later another dog was after them - of course they were confined to the coop/run by then but still! Seriously!! Running and barking along the fence after the day they'd already had. I've been free-ranging because they don't tend to go anywhere too crazy and we had an absolute ton of rain : the ground is saturated and their run is a mess.
Still finding blood etc. Had to leave it for tonight. Naturally that afternoon was also an important thing at work, and I felt sick from everything that happened.
I guess at least a couple weeks ago I found out the hens can be defended from weasels by my cats. Not dogs though...
Now there's talk of professional fencing - but it's expensive and choosing a place - especially if it has to be attached to the current run, won't be fun. *sigh*