NY chicken lover!!!!

[FritaFrittata]

So I've been up since 4am, couldn't sleep, too much on my mind. I have a coffee, read on my phone a little and decide to head outside to let everyone out since I've been sleeping in as of late and no one gets out until 9 or so. I head up to the coops/rabbit hutches and hear nothing but flies buzzing around. Tons and tons of flies and can't help but wonder why there are so many. I'm looking all over the ground and notice what seems to be a little black bird or what was left of it anyway, the wings, some feathers. And now I'm still tired, staring at it thinking what on earth would be able to kill a bird up here?!? We have no cats roaming around...and it's like at that very moment I looked up, glanced over to the hutch that ALL my chicks and 1 duckling were in and they were gone! All gone besides the 1 duckling which was lying there dead in the cage and one little black chick, I think it was my smooth sizzle half alive. My 2 frizzled sizzles - gone, 5 Orps - gone, 1 silkie - gone! All gone! Blood and guts all over the ground, I'm still in shock. This freakin raccoon just had his last meal. Tonight I'm sitting out there with the pellet gun DH just bought and taking that sucker down! I am sooooo PO'ed. What really makes no sense to me is if those chicks were getting attacked by this raccoon, why on earth did they come to the front of the cage?!? The whole 3 other sides of the cage are boarded. This thing stuck his paws in there and managed to grab each one out piece by piece! So ticked. Still in shock and just so ticked. DH woke up shortly after and went up there to help me clean everything up before the kids woke up. Just so upset.

Oh, Lynzi, I'm so so sorry. What an awful thing to wake up to. I hope you get the raccoon.

 

[Glasshen]

Lynzi, I am so sorry that happened. Plug in your electric fence, that will help a lot. So sad for you.

 

[Lynzi777]

Unfortunately I don't have the electrical part of this fencing. And that fencing is way down on the side of the yard and used for the silkies and the few larger chicks I have. These were in a rabbit hutch up in the back of my yard with the rabbits, Orps and ducks. I didn't know where else to put them in this heat. They were getting too messy to be in the brooder inside the house. If I moved that to the shed they probably would have died from the heat. So I thought the next best thing was a secured hutch. Just boggles my mind that if they were getting attacked from the front of the hutch, why didn't they huddle in the back of it out of this things reach!?! Then again, DH said he was probably scaring them to death by going under the hutch to get them to move to the front and that's when he would grab them. I just don't get it. All that money spent on those eggs, all that waiting for them to hatch, I finally have a great hatch with my Orps and then this. Unbelievable.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

So I've been up since 4am, couldn't sleep, too much on my mind. I have a coffee, read on my phone a little and decide to head outside to let everyone out since I've been sleeping in as of late and no one gets out until 9 or so. I head up to the coops/rabbit hutches and hear nothing but flies buzzing around. Tons and tons of flies and can't help but wonder why there are so many. I'm looking all over the ground and notice what seems to be a little black bird or what was left of it anyway, the wings, some feathers. And now I'm still tired, staring at it thinking what on earth would be able to kill a bird up here?!? We have no cats roaming around...and it's like at that very moment I looked up, glanced over to the hutch that ALL my chicks and 1 duckling were in and they were gone! All gone besides the 1 duckling which was lying there dead in the cage and one little black chick, I think it was my smooth sizzle half alive. My 2 frizzled sizzles - gone, 5 Orps - gone, 1 silkie - gone! All gone! Blood and guts all over the ground, I'm still in shock. This freakin raccoon just had his last meal. Tonight I'm sitting out there with the pellet gun DH just bought and taking that sucker down! I am sooooo PO'ed. What really makes no sense to me is if those chicks were getting attacked by this raccoon, why on earth did they come to the front of the cage?!? The whole 3 other sides of the cage are boarded. This thing stuck his paws in there and managed to grab each one out piece by piece! So ticked. Still in shock and just so ticked. DH woke up shortly after and went up there to help me clean everything up before the kids woke up. Just so upset.

OMG..I'm so very sorry. I'm sobbing here for you. I hope you kill the little ******* that did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Glasshen]

Sometimes the predators work in pairs, one scares them from one side and the other grabs them when they run to that side. It is horrible in general, but especially that the first predator that comes around does so much killing.

I just came out of my back door to loud peeping. A baby bits was in the corner by my door, it must have fallen out of its nest. So I put on gloves and stuffed it through the hole in the corner of the ceiling above the back door, which has not had the trim applie to surround the support post. It was sort of big, bigger than my chicks, and had some fuzz and some quills, and a huge bright yellow mouth. There are starlings in there. When they move out, that trim will get installed! I hope it will be ok, even though I am not wild about starlings, I hate for babies to die.

 

[Metella]

Lynzii777 --- sooooo sorry !



I just came across a weasel corpse when watering this morning - poked it over - 3 puncture wounds ... I'm thinking a domestic cat ? What else would get a weasel ?

This is the first ever sign of them around here .... I'm really bummed ..... going to have to really step up and shore up the seams in the hoop coop.

 

[Overhill Flocks]

So I've been up since 4am, couldn't sleep, too much on my mind. I have a coffee, read on my phone a little and decide to head outside to let everyone out since I've been sleeping in as of late and no one gets out until 9 or so. I head up to the coops/rabbit hutches and hear nothing but flies buzzing around. Tons and tons of flies and can't help but wonder why there are so many. I'm looking all over the ground and notice what seems to be a little black bird or what was left of it anyway, the wings, some feathers. And now I'm still tired, staring at it thinking what on earth would be able to kill a bird up here?!? We have no cats roaming around...and it's like at that very moment I looked up, glanced over to the hutch that ALL my chicks and 1 duckling were in and they were gone! All gone besides the 1 duckling which was lying there dead in the cage and one little black chick, I think it was my smooth sizzle half alive. My 2 frizzled sizzles - gone, 5 Orps - gone, 1 silkie - gone! All gone! Blood and guts all over the ground, I'm still in shock. This freakin raccoon just had his last meal. Tonight I'm sitting out there with the pellet gun DH just bought and taking that sucker down! I am sooooo PO'ed. What really makes no sense to me is if those chicks were getting attacked by this raccoon, why on earth did they come to the front of the cage?!? The whole 3 other sides of the cage are boarded. This thing stuck his paws in there and managed to grab each one out piece by piece! So ticked. Still in shock and just so ticked. DH woke up shortly after and went up there to help me clean everything up before the kids woke up. Just so upset.

Oh Lynzi -- I'm so sorry. Pity you can't up the firepower a bit.

 

[AQHAchick22]

I'm so sorry for your loss Lynzi, that's terrible Those raccoons really are a pain.

 

[Aria]

Lindsey, So sorry. We have NOT let our flock out. We lost so many...hawks.
They are in the run and the barn. It is so HOT so perhaps it is better for them.

We have 5 new chicks in our basement and 6 chicks born in April in our old
Sugar House.

We will put the 6 chicks bornin April with the Flock soon and put the 5 new chicks
in the Sugar House. We have a large area with hay for them ...all fenced in in the
Sugar House. All working out fine.

And, please forget about all the negative. Just zero in on all the good you have.
We can't change things that happen....THEY ALL WORK OUT. Regards, Aria

 

[armorfirelady]

So sorry for your loss Lynzi. I hope u get that coon. It will be back. We have them around here but thankfully the electric netting keeps them out and I've surrounded the hoop coop with hardware cloth. No little paws can get in.