NY chicken lover!!!!

[Aria]

WELL ...SKUNKS do attack Chickens...
AND Im a Crazy Chicken LADY...
my 2 little spitzs where out in the fenced in garden by themselves around 8 o clock ..Flock was all in the coop
I went in for supper ..they didnt want to be caught ...so I let them stay out ..WHAT A MISTAKE !
I heard one of them screaming and running around the yard ..I went out and caught it ...
went into the garden looking for the other one ..couldnt see it
Saw the Skunk at the back of the yard eating something ...
wondered was it a chicken ?
I Picked up the garden cultivator..and went over the fence to the skunk ..
It was eating my baby Spitz ! I totally Lost it !
I yelled & Screamed at the skunk ...and attacked it with the cultivator ...and drove it out of our yard and into the woods .
Baby chicken was dead and its breast 1/2 eaten ...then I started crying ...
I guess I did not hurt it very much as it came back in a few minutes ..
I had already picked up the chicken carcass ..and put it in the trash ...No way I was going to bury it and let the skunk dig it up .

Well it is dead ...we shot it ..it learned there was food here ...and it would be back ..
In a week or two I will have some chicks hatching ..I cant have it going through my yard again .
Cutie is alive and lonesome ..I put her in my butt pack ...so she felt safe
She has a mirror in her bin ..it seems to soothe her some ..but if I wander too far away she screams .
Had a heck of a time getting her to sleep .Ticking Clock did not Work ..darkness , my hand and a stuffed animal finally worked
.I may put another one of my broodys chicks with her tomorrow ....or she will terrorize my hubby
Ive got a DR Appt today ...Should I take her with me in the butt pack ? LOL ..

Grandma, Went to Ithaca Craigslist. There are 2 brownish Silkies. Thanks for the info. They do NOT look like ALL Silkie...I suspect they are a MIX. Thanks Again, Aria

 

[myfivegirls]

This is one of the two Easter Egger cockerels I have. He has more of a barred look than the other. Mama hen of them is a Crested Cream Legbar. Papa roo of them is most likely a Cream Brabanter, but might be a Wheaten Ameraucana (considered an Easter Egger by some people because he has cream instead of gold). Either way they'll pass on a pale blue/white/blue egg gene to their offspring. They are 9.5 weeks old. If anyone is interested in them, let me know.

Those are cool looking!

Sorry for those with losses.
I think the rat problem is under control now - several more adults died from poison set near their hiding places. No more caught in traps. Ducklings in brooder area where I lost chicks are doing well since I secured it more & put wire on the floor.

 

[fireredcannon]

Maybe I'm crazy but I feel like a .22 rifle is on the list of must haves when keeping chickens. I have seen coons the size of pit bulls around my house, they don't stay long

 

[Gramma Chick]

Maybe I'm crazy but I feel like a .22 rifle is on the list of must haves when keeping chickens. I have seen coons the size of pit bulls around my house, they don't stay long

We never had a gun till we had chickens ...A 22 does the job for protection...I used it yesterday
Though it cant be used in town ...houses are too close & too many people

 

[Chicken girl 15]

We never had a gun till we had chickens ...A 22 does the job for protection...I used it yesterday
Though it cant be used in town ...houses are too close & too many people

as some of you know I'm not in town so a .22 is great for us. I always suggest getting your chickens a cat and a dog. My flock has both and we have 0 problems with predators or critters in the feed. The only issue we have had is a cat trying to brood eggs and a dog thinking it's a chicken and trying to live in the coop and eat chicken feed.

 

[Beer can]

Grandma, Went to Ithaca Craigslist.  There are 2 brownish Silkies.  Thanks for the info.  They do NOT look like ALL Silkie...I suspect they are a MIX.  Thanks Again, Aria

Probably TSC hatchery 'silkies'. My white ones lay great.

 

[Beer can]

Dang gramma, that's awful. Great you got the culprit though.

 

[Beer can]

Maybe I'm crazy but I feel like a .22 rifle is on the list of must haves when keeping chickens. I have seen coons the size of pit bulls around my house, they don't stay long

.410 shotguns are great for varmit and predator control. Don't kick much, throw a nice pattern/don't have to be as accurate/fewer misses, and you don't have to worry about how far the bullet will travel. And the single shots are easy to use and cheap.
I use a .22 quite often lately trying to get rid of our overabundance of red squirrels.
Have switched to a high powered pellet rifle for in the trees shots so I don't have to worry about bullet travel. 1,000-1,200 fps ones aren't priced bad and will kill about any predator with a well placed shot.
I just got rid of two vegan predators with the pellet rifle that were in my garden, woodchucks, did the job nicely, and they are quiet compared to a .22

 

[fireredcannon]

.410 shotguns are great for varmit and predator control. Don't kick much, throw a nice pattern/don't have to be as accurate/fewer misses, and you don't have to worry about how far the bullet will travel. And the single shots are easy to use and cheap.
I use a .22 quite often lately trying to get rid of our overabundance of red squirrels.
Have switched to a high powered pellet rifle for in the trees shots so I don't have to worry about bullet travel. 1,000-1,200 fps ones aren't priced bad and will kill about any predator with a well placed shot.
I just got rid of two vegan predators with the pellet rifle that were in my garden, woodchucks, did the job nicely, and they are quiet compared to a .22

That pellet rifle handles a woodchuck well? What grain are the pellets you use? I've thought about buying one but I already own a .22 and my neighbors could care less about a snap every once and a while

 

[rancher hicks]

Gramma I'm sorry about your loss. I'd offer a replacement as I have 5 hens on eggs. Though no Spitz's. A 6th hen is trying to go but that will leave no nest boxes in the coop empty for her sisters. I have an EE that the minute I let her she runs to that coop to lay her egg.

Shodack, I sympathize with you about the spouse not caring. Mine doesn't either. I wonder why she married me sometimes. Now about that rabbit problem. TSC often has 2" High poultry wire on sale and it will work fine for keeping the rabbits out. A 50' roll is about $20. Now if you have a truck and would like to switch to raised beds that will help too. You can find lots of useful stuff for free.

As you can see from these pics those little plastic fencing things keep the rabbits out.

I have a Ground hog again but it doesn't seem to bother my plants. I saw it the other day as it beat it to under the coop. I think I saw it today but if it wasn't the ground hog, I don't know what it was. It was moving pretty fast.




Now in case anyone wondered Elvis is alive and living in Anchorage.