My friends coop is horrendous.....predators got in.....

[tinkarooni]

So my friend decided that she wanted to have chickens. She's been buying eggs from me for about 6 months. Her husband built her a lovely coop from plans.....he followed the plans exactly and some of it just wasn't practical....ie. no man door.....but that's not really the problem. They purchased a dog run for a yard and he tied plastic mesh over the top. They allow the chickens free access to this area. Oh, it's also situated right next to the wood line. So they are on vacation and we are supervising the little girl who is taking care of the poultry. Yesterday the little girl calls me to come up....something got into the coop, tore the heads off the chickens (only about 4 month old hens) Two are completely gone.....when we got up there I found one Black Astralorp hiding in the bushes with a gash on her head. She was the lucky one. I brought it home and called my friend on her vacation and told her what happened. She is very upset but promises to have husband fortify the coop.....they'll get the survivor when they get home. UMMMM, nope. Sorry, they are not getting this bird back. I feel so responsible. I ordered these birds for her with some meat chickens I ordered and turned them over to her. Ideas how to handle? Please help...Oh one more thing. It turns out that they have been loosing birds one at a time for a couple of months. They have lost 4 small chickens and two ducks and still haven't fortified their run. The little girl told me this. That explains why they have less than I thought they should. This was not just a one time thing that could happen to anyone, they are just being careless....I know one was eaten because their 10 year old didn't put it in the coop at night.....they should be being more responsible.

 

[flopshot]

i know how you feel but it's their bird. you should have just told them all the birds were gone. tell them how to fix the coop and run the right way.
i'll never understand why some people will use chain link for sides and then throw some lame plastic crap over the top expecting to use the run for an unattended 24/7 free range zone.

 

[tinkarooni]

Quote:
I would tell them the bird died but in I will be away in three weeks and they will be feeding and watering for me and they will see it here, of course all of this concern is if this one actually lives....We have tried to tell them how to fix the coop....it's hard to tell someone exactly what you said...that's crap take it down and do this. I will now though....I know it's there bird but I get so mad when I see such total disregard for animals. Like I said, it was happening with more frequency and they just let it happen.

 

[AmyRey]

Since you helped her find and obtain the chickens, perhaps you could go over and help them out with making their coop safer?

 

[Boyd]

Im sure at some point EVERYONE who has raised chickens has lost birds to predators. Personally, I'd help her set traps and reinforce their run rather than hold the bird hostage.

 

[NotTheMomma]

Unfortunately, they aren't your chickens. You can't just keep one, or all of them because you don't like the way they are raised, or housed. They belong to your friend.

Maybe some educating is in the future here. As soon as the friend returns, maybe show them your set up, and explain why you did things the way you did. Not in a "my way is better than yours", or "there's only one right way, and that's my way", but teach them why netting won't keep out coons. Explain to them how chickens can stick their heads out of the chain link and be killed. (Wish someone had told me that BEFORE I lost one of mine.) Show them how chickens like to lay against the chain link for a nap, and thus makes them prime dinner for predators. (Anyone know WHY they must do that?)

That way WHEN she decides to get more, and I'm sure she will, the same thing won't happen to them.

For now, continue to nurse the one back to health until she returns. Then I would tell her what care I've given, and turn the responsibility back to her. I know it will be hard. Sometimes the right thing just plain sucks.

 

[tinkarooni]

You guys are being so rational....maybe tomorrow I'll feel more rational.....right now holding it hostage seems like a good idea.

My husband and I will defininitely go over and give them some advice now. Husband was uncomfortable telling another guy.....you know.....maybe you want to do this or that with the coop. While my friends did ask for advice the husband did not and he was the one doing the work. My husband didn't want to critique his workmanship.

Let me give you some more background. Two goats, a bunny, apparently 4 chickens and a total of around 6 ducks have been killed over there now. My husband is calling it "Death Acres", they are only one mile up the street from us.....I just feel like they are being SO irresponsible about predator protection. Oh and one more thing....she told me last night on the phone that she has 30 hatching eggs coming next week.

Thanks for your words of wisdom.

 

[Shanay235]

I know telling a lie isn't the right thing to do but for the sake of the bird I would probably tell her it didn't survive long after the attack and either keep or rehome it. It wouldn't be the first time I've "stole" an animal from it's owners due to lack of care.

As far as I'm concerned, if they aren't making any attempts to correct the coop design they are just feeding the predators and don't care enough about the birds welfare. Hopefully, once they're all gone, your friend will lose interest in fowl keeping. If she approached you about getting some replacement birds, refuse to help and tell her why.

I recently ticked off two seperate relatives of mine by refusing to give them one of the three orphaned kittens I've been hand raising for the past few weeks. After seeing and hearing what happens with their animals, I told them my exact concerns and reasons why I wasn't going to give them a kitten. Maybe they'll get over it, maybe they won't, but at least I know I didn't purposely place the kittens in a questionable enviroment just to avoid hurt feelings.

 

[BayCityBabe]

Goats and bunnies and chickens... Oh my!

I can understand you being REALLY angry & frustrated.

They do need a gentle lesson.

 

[gkeesling]

I agree with most of the posters here. You gave them the birds so they are their property now and can do about what ever they want to with them, even if it doesn't seem right to you. You can't keep the bird unless they give it to you as that would be theft, and you can't tell them it died as that would be lying. About all you can do is to refuse to sell them animals any more because they keep letting them die. They might by a thousand birds and they might be taken by preditors one at a time. That's their choice, I suppose. You can give them suggestions about reinforcing their coop/run and hope they listen. I can't undertand why people would put the money and time in animals like this and then just let them be taken by predators.