...Lost a bird today---I am sad--I want to know who dun it!!

[kryptoniteqhs]

your not an idiot...things happen...ive had several diappear on me...never found the carcasses tho...expect for one that somebody elses dog attacked...i wasnt there and the darn thing probably would have been fine, but by the time the vet (our neighbor and boyfriends boss) got there, they had all (neighbors) had been trying to break its neck for so long and not succeeded

that who knows what kinda damage they did...the vet broke its neck to put it out of its misery...he said he was gonna try and save it to had it not been for that....anyway im ranting.....point is its not your fault!

 

[SharonX]

Thanks so much. I kept thinking I heard "clucking" last night by my bedroom window, but chalked it up to wishful thinking. Turns out, this am, I went out to check on the one girl I locked inside the stagecoach and there was big Della Delaware. She must have flown up in a tree and was not dead. She is also the one who layed that beautiful first egg with a shell. Her previous try was without a shell -- just white and yolk like in a frying pan. Hooray! She's alive and she is laying perfect eggs!

So that leaves the only missing girl, my beautiful Silkie, Sally. So she is the one I lost. I am just so relieved by other two big girls are OK. I am thinking it is the same medium sized coon that did it. Silkies can't fly so escape is harder, bless her.

Today after their hearty oatmeal with yogurt I'll put them away for safety in the stagecoach. No more open stagecoach door after dusk.

 

[Cetawin]

I am so sorry for your loss and please do not blame yourself. I do not have a top on my run right now either and I am constantly checking on them during the day because of it and I make sure they are inside tucked in before dark...but it is a risk I am taking having the run uncovered. I will fix that soon though.


Hawks attack during the day and they kill by breaking the neck. They will often eat on the bird right where the kill occurs if they feel safe enough to do so. No outside dogs and they would certainly eat on the bird right there.

Again I am so sorry you lost your girl.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Quote:
Thanks for the URL. Sorry for your loss OP, this is a heartbreaking time. It is really improtant that you get your chickeys into a protected encloser as soon as they are ready to roost. They know that they are in danger and this is why the roost when the sun goes down. Silkies are especially susceptible as they can hardly fly. They need a secure enclosure so they can get into the silkie pile at night.

One evening I was about an hour too late. Just at dusk a Possum got into the barn (door was open) and killed one silkie and attacked another. I was lucky there were only two there. i have since taken away this area for the silkies to pile up. I did take care of the Possum too. He is in possum heaven.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

so the partially eaten carcass was your silkie??

 

[SharonX]

Quote:
Yes, I am afraid so. All her feathers in the coop and then strewn across the yard and the carcass was under the shed and a rat ran away as I shown a light on it. I knew it was one of my girls but did not know which since Della was missing as well as Sally Silkie. Theresa I found and locked up in the coop last night.

Today I had trouble getting Theresa to go back in her roost in the stagecoach coop. She seemed afraid as it was not the safe place she thought. Della was hovered under a stool in the back of my screened in porch by the dog kennel where I put the teenagers at night and lock the porch.

Della was happy to get the girls out of the stagecoach coop and get back into her nest, but Theresa was not so sure. Della may have had an egg to lay. Theresa finally went in after I chased and begged her to get in the coop for 30 minutes.

Della was wanting to come inside the house today to be near me. She slept out because I could not find her and it was very windy last night. I thought she was dead so gave up looking even though I swore I heard a "cluck cluck" coming from somewhere. She sat in my lap for a long time and closed her eyes and got kisses today.

Poor Sally. I am heart sick to loose her in such a horrendous way. It is 5 pm here now and they are locked in their stagecoach so the they safe tonight while I am at work.

 

[cmom]

So Sorry for your loss. Yesterday I saw one of my girls next to the fence and I thought she was dusting but after looking for a few seconds and didn't see any movement. I went out to see and found her dead with alot of feathers up and down then fence line. I left for the hospital around 11am to pick up my husband who has been in the hospital. Before I left I gave the big girls some bread and all were ok. I got home at 2pm when I noticed the dead one. Why couldn't it have happened when I was home? I'm afraid what ever it was will be back so now they are all shut up in their run which is covered, and the pop door to their coop is getting shut every night now too.

 

[ivan3]

litl red hen wrote: Will my remaining birds suffer mental trauma from this?

First off, sorry for your loss.

If our experience is any guide the survivors just get cagier when they're ranging. We let ours pretty much run free for about 8 months and a fox took a dustbathing pullet from under the kitchen window! That ended unsupervised free ranging. We were working out front, one fall afternoon, and noticed that the flock was gathered under the big lilac (lots of good hiding places) growling and looking off towards the woodline about 50 yds. away. I kept scanning the general area and finally saw the fox behind a gooseberry bush. Once the fox was shot and in a bucket the chooks went on about their business as if nothing had happened. On another afternoon I observed the flock to have formed a semicircle of sorts around the base of a big, dead, hickory (growling/whining roo not sure about air pred/ground pred alarm). sure enough, near the top was a sleeping coon. Same as with fox: all hades broke loose until the coon was dropped into the bucket, then nothing but peaceful attentive foraging.​

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

im glad you were able to shoot them!!! good for you!!! ive got a stupid ground hog (well about a million, but this one in particular---i know where he lives hehehehe) that sleeps under my barn and he/she isnt bothering anyone or anything but if that sucker makes babies ill never forgive myself...they make holes and my horses are bound to break a leg....and the holes are to many to keep up with. But, my point is every time i have a gun around they disappear....youd think theyd gone extinct or something. I swear EVERY time i dont have one theyre just hanging out like no problems! Anyways congrats on your mad hunting skills!!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Ok, I had to laugh at the groundhog story, because we had one a couple of years ago that was the same way! Bold as brass, unless you had a gun and then he never came out, even if you waited for hours. Man, was my husband frustrated!

I have heard that broccoli is a good bait when trapping groundhogs. You might want to try that and see if it works for you. One of our dogs killed the last one, so I haven't tried the broccoli in a trap, yet. Several people have had success with it, though, so I'd be willing to try it.

I don't mind them, either, except that they dig under the buildings. The last one was under the coop and that's just asking for trouble.