My Footina 2P2 is gone!

[the Old Rebel]

I am soooooooooo sad!!!

My so-very-loved Footina 2P2 is gone.....just gone!! We think a coon came in the dark of the night and stole her out of our hen house.

This is Footina's story:

She was the only one of 29 eggs to hatch in the incubator. All of the others had full-grown keats in them, but only Footina made it out. And we had to help her. Don't know if the temperature or humidity or both was off. It was a sad, sad day, but Footina was our little miracle.

Then she turned out to be pretty severely spraddle-legged. Chickensioux and her DH did everything in their power to help her, but to now avail. Still, the plucky little thing survived and thrived in their tender, loving care. Her right leg ended up turned upside down, but she got along just fine.

She came to live with us the day after our male guinea, Footie (short for Footless.... another story) was killed by our neighbor's dumb dogs, so we named her Footina in his honor. The 2P2 was added by my little grandson (another story).

The really cool thing was: We have another male guinea that lost his leg in a freak accident (God brings us a lot of creatures that are special needs babies). His name is Mikey. His leg ends just below the elbow. Again, he gets along fine.

Mikey fell in love with Footina. And Footina fell in love with Mikey. And they've been husband and wife ever since. It was soooooo sweet to see them together. He always took such good care of her.

Until a $#%^ coon found his way into our hen house.

Footina slept on the floor in the corner. I guess he stumbled upon her first. (He went under a roost full of chickens to find her.

It makes me SICK!!!! My heart is broken!!!! For 10 years our pen has been predator-proof. But where the poultry wire went into the ground (we buried about 8 inches of wire), it has rusted through. We had no idea. But the coon sure found the hole. Now my little Footina is gone.

I miss her sooooooooo very much. So does Mikey.

Rest in peace, my little one. You were so very, very loved.

 

[Soccer Mom]

I'm so sorry! Poor little girl. Those darn coons. I swear they can find the slightest weakness.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Sorry to hear that. We live with a lot of wild life here and lately, it seems it is getting more so, although I don't see how. At night you go in the yard and there are 2 huge rabbits. At about 7pm it is my habbit to lock up my chickens and make sure they are all in the roost, at which time I can hear owls dangerously close. In the early morning, while drinking coffee and looking outside, I watch the squirrles running in my yard. All day when we are outside we hear the chickens clucking while running for cover and there is a chicken hawk teasing them, very low. I have had my share of coons also. My nephew scared the poop out of me at 5am 2 weeks ago, when I was ready to go to work. He was shooting at a coon (he mustn't be a very good shot....7 gunshots).
My sis-n-law told me a coon was eating their dogfood. I offered my trap, but they supposed to have one. I should set mine and eat a coon......How about you do that too? Consider it revenge.

 

[the Old Rebel]

We did set a trap and caught the guy. A fairly good-sized raccon. We re-homed him several miles from us on a friend's property that has a lot of woods next to a river. Our friend has no livestock or poultry. He doesn't mind having the coons and possums, etc. Hooray for him!!

I know people on BYC feel every which way about raccoons and other predators, and I understand how they feel and why. But I, personally, have tremendous respect for any and every living thing. Perhaps it is because I have battled cancer in 3 (possibly now 4) different forms. Life is VERY precious to me, so I can't take the life of anything else.

But I sure wanted to!!!

So if you do decide to eat one, I hope it's good. I think my little Footina 2P2 would be honored.

 

[the Old Rebel]

I just have to laugh at myself. I was so sanctimonious last night. Well, the predator that got my Footina 2P2 was a coon and we caught him. But now we've got a weasel visiting our other chicken pens. He badly injured my gorgeous Buff Rock roo the other night. We, by the grace of God, got out there fast enough to save him. But last night we weren't fast enough to save my Americana hen. That's when we saw what we are battling. He's a big fella too.

Well, I want you all to know that I could have killed him dead with my bare hands if I'da caught him. I was and am soooooooo angry!!! And I'm scared. I have 76 birds to protect. I have read that weasels can get into almost anything. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?????

 

[racuda]

How did the weasel get in?

 

[joyous]

I am new to this, so you can take this for what it is. My coop and run is surrounded by an electric wire around the base about two inches off the ground. I figure any predator sniffing around is likely to bump into it and run. So far it has worked. You get get the wire and electric component at any farm store. Easy to install!. I only let them free range when I am home. So far so good. Good luck! Also, I turn it off before I let them free range, don't want my little babies to get shocked!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]