Minnesota!

[KlopKlop]

My chickens are free ranging right now.... So our my dogs against their will.

My lab pup has taken to Conrad as her favorite pez dispenser much to his dislike. I find it funny as she slowly herds him around the yard as he tries to avoid her and his harem follows en mass

 

[Bogtown Chick]

My chickens are free ranging too. There's something Dead to the south of us though. Turkey Vultures have been circling and the Big Tootsie is giving off his shrill call every 5 minutes.

It's either the molting, donating his food to the girls too much, or the chasing of hens with the long spring and summer. He's been looking skinny to me lately. I should put him on the scale and start up the fermented feed before winter hits. He packs it back on with that stuff.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Regardless of my feelings about wolves, I agree they are being buttheads about Rhetts wolf problem. Sticking their heads in the sand and not dealing with it hurts the residence of the area, but it also hurts the wolves because folks aren't going to trust the authorities to handle situations that come up like this.
Rhetts, I hope you get it recorded and show them, then you can give them a big old, "I told you dumb***".

 

[Cluckies]

I just lost three of my hens last Tuesday while they free-ranged. Those critters are hungry out there and storin up for winter. The four I have left are unhappily cooped.Just down the road from you in Big Lake.

So sorry for your losses, that is terrible.

So how do you free-range the chicks then?

I only let mine free range when i'm out there with them. even then a hawk came within 10 feet of us yesterday, cripes are they bold.
Day before that I saw 4 eagles, 1 adult and 3 young, and 2 hawks all within the span of 15 minutes.

 

[duluthralphie]

So sorry for your losses, that is terrible.

I only let mine free range when i'm out there with them. even then a hawk came within 10 feet of us yesterday, cripes are they bold.
Day before that I saw 4 eagles, 1 adult and 3 young, and 2 hawks all within the span of 15 minutes.

I suppose proposing an eagle season would start another round of warfare on here....

 

[AlezaJ]

This doesn't have much to do with recent comments on this thread but I am planning on building a new coop with a large run for foraging purposes and want to ask for some pictures of other Minnesotans coops that have large runs(30' by 40'). I'm not sure how I will build the fencing or if I will have wire over the top or not. I have been looking for examples of this big of a run and can only find blogs about urban coop and runs(so really small) or free ranging.

 

[duluthralphie]

I have am enclosed ruj that is 30x50 roughly. I enclosed it with nylon bird netting from Amazon..

I have one run 10x50 covered- with a run covered by poultry netting. That one I would never do again. It is too short for me to walk in without being hunched over,

I have a smaller one 25x25 that comes from the eaves on the coop to a height of about 4 1/2 ft. That one is not bad because the taller part by the eaves. It is covered by bird netting again from Amazon.


No pictures tonight, I will try to remember some for tomorrow, unless I get an Eagle tonight and am plucking and roasting it tomorrow...

 

[Bogtown Chick]

That large of a run if you want to rotate to greener areas. The electric poultry netting seems like a good thought. It's expensive though.

I probably shouldn't put my two cents in but my run is 10x12 with chicken wire. Rarely used but in winter and mostly wrapped in plastic then. Plans to reinforce with hardware cloth. I do have the run covered with tin.

Your size you're talking about may benefit with a top of poultry netting like pheasant farms use.

 

[Rhetts]

OK-I figure I will type out for you all the play by play so there is no confusions or me misrepresenting the DNR in a bad way.

First attack was August 25. 2 holes tore into one of the duck pens and 7 ducks taken. 2 were eaten here on site only feathers left no carcass 5 missing completely. There were attempts made to get into the other duck house but not successful. Prints galore thanks to the rain. I took pictures using a quarter for size reference. I did not call the DNR.

Attack number 2 happened Sept 7th. 2 roosters were attacked and eaten on site. One in my chicken run. I have no idea how the door to the run got opened but it did. The other rooster was eaten near where the ducks had been eaten. Again, only feather piles no carcasses. I took pictures of the prints in the chicken run. It is sand so they were not as clear. I used a quarter again for size reference.
I called the local DNR office and he asked if I could send him an email with the track pictures. I did send him pictures of both attack sets. He called me a couple hours later telling me he had shown (forwarded the email? I am not sure) the 'wildlife guy' the track pictures and he told the local that it is fox or coyote. The local guy did not sound like he was even convinced and told me I need to prove it is a wolf with concrete evidence. He is the one who told me of the neighbor calves being taken.

Attack number 3 happened the morning of Sept 11th. It was about 5 am and I heard it happening. DH went out there but it was gone. No animal loss that time. Later that morning when I went to do chores there were tracks in the mud. I thought for sure I had some pics on the game cam but there wasn't. I remembered this time to use a ruler and took pictures of the tracks. I called the local and left a message and emailed him the latest track shots. He called me yesterday (he had been gone on vacation). He told me that he showed the latest prints to the wildlife guy or a different one I am not sure but that person said we have a wolf on our hands. The local came to my house yesterday. He took pictures of the damage to the duck house. We talked. He said that he is forwarding the info to the federal person in charge of trapping the wolf. He again shared with us another wolf attack taking cattle just the day before.

Today I came home to a note in my door. The USDA wildlife services guy was here. I called him. He told me he looked all over my property and found no traces of wolf. No poop or tracks. (how many times will a wolf stop to poop during a food raid anyway?) He said he found fox tracks on my septic mound and he found a bobcat trail with fresh poop. That is it. No evidence of any kind of wolf activity. (mind you we had tractors running the last week haying the pasture) I recounted all the attacks and the print sizes to him and he said it could be a dog. There are lots of houses in my area and any ones dog could have done it. Some of the things he said I rebutted with evidence I had seen. But he said if I get any picture on the game camera or any more attacks I should call them ASAP so they can see the evidence first hand. He was kinda not nice but he is straight up telling me crap and I am supposed to swallow it. I wasn't happy but I was polite. He repeatedly said I am dealing with fox and bobcat.

What is my main concern? I do not want to loose any animals obviously. But what scares the crap out of me is that whatever this animal is, it is in my back yard right behind my house. Not out in the pasture somewhere. It is right in my living space literally feet from my bedroom window. It is eating the birds in my yard. I do not want it to come back during the day while we are outside. I don't want my kids to be afraid to walk to the chicken coop or the mailbox. But they are. They are afraid to ride their bikes or go any where near the road. It is sad to see the fear on their faces.

I need a picture on the game camera. I don't think they would believe me if I see it with my eyes and tell them so.
I am not trying to stir up anything!! I just want to let everyone know what I am dealing with. Thank you for all the support. Even if we don't all see things the same way, having each other to talk to and vent to is extremely helpful.
Thank you
Rhetts

 

[KlopKlop]

OK-I figure I will type out for you all the play by play so there is no confusions or me misrepresenting the DNR in a bad way.

First attack was August 25. 2 holes tore into one of the duck pens and 7 ducks taken. 2 were eaten here on site only feathers left no carcass 5 missing completely. There were attempts made to get into the other duck house but not successful. Prints galore thanks to the rain. I took pictures using a quarter for size reference. I did not call the DNR.

Attack number 2 happened Sept 7th. 2 roosters were attacked and eaten on site. One in my chicken run. I have no idea how the door to the run got opened but it did. The other rooster was eaten near where the ducks had been eaten. Again, only feather piles no carcasses. I took pictures of the prints in the chicken run. It is sand so they were not as clear. I used a quarter again for size reference.
I called the local DNR office and he asked if I could send him an email with the track pictures. I did send him pictures of both attack sets. He called me a couple hours later telling me he had shown (forwarded the email? I am not sure) the 'wildlife guy' the track pictures and he told the local that it is fox or coyote. The local guy did not sound like he was even convinced and told me I need to prove it is a wolf with concrete evidence. He is the one who told me of the neighbor calves being taken.

Attack number 3 happened the morning of Sept 11th. It was about 5 am and I heard it happening. DH went out there but it was gone. No animal loss that time. Later that morning when I went to do chores there were tracks in the mud. I thought for sure I had some pics on the game cam but there wasn't. I remembered this time to use a ruler and took pictures of the tracks. I called the local and left a message and emailed him the latest track shots. He called me yesterday (he had been gone on vacation). He told me that he showed the latest prints to the wildlife guy or a different one I am not sure but that person said we have a wolf on our hands. The local came to my house yesterday. He took pictures of the damage to the duck house. We talked. He said that he is forwarding the info to the federal person in charge of trapping the wolf. He again shared with us another wolf attack taking cattle just the day before.

Today I came home to a note in my door. The USDA wildlife services guy was here. I called him. He told me he looked all over my property and found no traces of wolf. No poop or tracks. (how many times will a wolf stop to poop during a food raid anyway?) He said he found fox tracks on my septic mound and he found a bobcat trail with fresh poop. That is it. No evidence of any kind of wolf activity. (mind you we had tractors running the last week haying the pasture) I recounted all the attacks and the print sizes to him and he said it could be a dog. There are lots of houses in my area and any ones dog could have done it. Some of the things he said I rebutted with evidence I had seen. But he said if I get any picture on the game camera or any more attacks I should call them ASAP so they can see the evidence first hand. He was kinda not nice but he is straight up telling me crap and I am supposed to swallow it. I wasn't happy but I was polite. He repeatedly said I am dealing with fox and bobcat.

What is my main concern? I do not want to loose any animals obviously. But what scares the crap out of me is that whatever this animal is, it is in my back yard right behind my house. Not out in the pasture somewhere. It is right in my living space literally feet from my bedroom window. It is eating the birds in my yard. I do not want it to come back during the day while we are outside. I don't want my kids to be afraid to walk to the chicken coop or the mailbox. But they are. They are afraid to ride their bikes or go any where near the road. It is sad to see the fear on their faces.

I need a picture on the game camera. I don't think they would believe me if I see it with my eyes and tell them so.
I am not trying to stir up anything!! I just want to let everyone know what I am dealing with. Thank you for all the support. Even if we don't all see things the same way, having each other to talk to and vent to is extremely helpful.
Thank you
Rhetts

I wish there was some way i could help, but other than offer to lend you my own game camera i don't have much to offer but my listening ears (reading eyes??)

one thing you might look up is some kind of odor repellant. I know they get mixed reviews but it may be worth a try? What i am talking about things like rabbit or deer repellent ( i think they are based of wolf pee odor) except for something that a wolf would avoid. maybe another wolf's smell would deter your rogue wolf? but then again it could also draw it in, so maybe do some research.

finally, Some of the DNR guy's credibility returns now that we know that he didnt think your paw prints were actually fox or bobcat, but yikes that those are out there too!