Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[jajeanpierre]

If you have men or pubescent males in your life, have them urinate at the place where the fox took the birds. Also get some hair from the local barber shop and sprinkle it there and various other places around your property. The urine will keep the fox away, the hair will keep the deer away.

I'll get the men in the household to start urinating along the fence line. The hair won't work with the deer--my neighbor feeds them and will even pet them. I just hope none of us--dogs or humans--get hurt by these deer. They are stupid enough to drop fawns in my yard and they will take on anything right on my front door step, including my pit bull. My pit is smart enough to back down. He chases them off the property, but I can't keep them out at night. He did manage to get one of their fawns this year--the only animal he has ever hurt--so I hope they learned their lesson and don't drop fawns in my yard next year but i really doubt it.

I need to mow the property again and maybe ask my neighbor if I can mow a 6 foot strip on the other side of the fence to make the fox's presence known to the chickens earlier. Then everyone--my chickens, me and the dogs--will see the fox sooner. Now, the fox can be hiding right beside my fence and we won't see it.

 

[Tomtommom]

Are you sure that is a hawk wound? I think most hawks grab on the back nd squeeze with their talons, piercing the air sacs until the animal finally succumbs. (Falcons have a special notch in their beak so t hey can sever the spinal cord behind the head.) Until they start tearing the bird apart, the wounds tend to be puncture wounds, not gashes. At least that is my understanding. Also, they pluck out the feathers before they start eating (and the poor animal may still be alive). That looks more like a bite wound, having seen a few from my *!@&#$# Dachshunds. Did you see the attack?

I only heard the first one. Fairly certain it was a broad-winged hawk, they're very distinct in sound and look (underside of tail is striped). We have several juveniles in our area every year from around August until October. Probably why they made the mistake to try and grab something much too large for them.. inexperience.

He must've grabbed her and she was too heavy/struggled and where it should've pierced ended up ripping skin instead. The second one had gashes where the wing connects to the body.. That chicken was also a VERY heavy bird and fiesty, so he likely didn't even get her off the ground

I watched that attack. I was in the kitchen, heard a squawk and looked and saw a flurry of wings. Chicken in question put up a fight and won, hawk flew off, chicken ran for cover as I came running outside. It was sort of funny, because for a moment the chicken was running with the hawk still attached, that's how heavy she was. Hawk never should've even tried.

The wound in the picture is showing bare breast muscle.. took long to heal as debris kept getting into the cavity, but.. it healed. She's a faithful layer still. The other one healed pretty quickly.

 

[Crickett]

I'm sorry your neighbor is feeding the deer and trying to make pets of them. Wild deer can carry several disease pests, ticks and fleas and such. Not to mention being attractive to carnivorous animals. Who will in turn go after your fowl.

 

[Tomtommom]

I'll get the men in the household to start urinating along the fence line. The hair won't work with the deer--my neighbor feeds them and will even pet them. I just hope none of us--dogs or humans--get hurt by these deer. They are stupid enough to drop fawns in my yard and they will take on anything right on my front door step, including my pit bull. My pit is smart enough to back down. He chases them off the property, but I can't keep them out at night. He did manage to get one of their fawns this year--the only animal he has ever hurt--so I hope they learned their lesson and don't drop fawns in my yard next year but i really doubt it.

I need to mow the property again and maybe ask my neighbor if I can mow a 6 foot strip on the other side of the fence to make the fox's presence known to the chickens earlier. Then everyone--my chickens, me and the dogs--will see the fox sooner. Now, the fox can be hiding right beside my fence and we won't see it.

Sounds like those deer are close to being a nuisance... neighbor should really consider finding them another place to eat at.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I only heard the first one. Fairly certain it was a broad-winged hawk, they're very distinct in sound and look (underside of tail is striped). We have several juveniles in our area every year from around August until October. Probably why they made the mistake to try and grab something much too large for them.. inexperience.

He must've grabbed her and she was too heavy/struggled and where it should've pierced ended up ripping skin instead. The second one had gashes where the wing connects to the body.. That chicken was also a VERY heavy bird and fiesty, so he likely didn't even get her off the ground

I watched that attack. I was in the kitchen, heard a squawk and looked and saw a flurry of wings. Chicken in question put up a fight and won, hawk flew off, chicken ran for cover as I came running outside. It was sort of funny, because for a moment the chicken was running with the hawk still attached, that's how heavy she was. Hawk never should've even tried.

The wound in the picture is showing bare breast muscle.. took long to heal as debris kept getting into the cavity, but.. it healed. She's a faithful layer still. The other one healed pretty quickly.

Starvation of juveniles in the late summer and fall is a leading cause of death for birds of prey. Juveniles, especially desperate starving juveniles, are really stupid about what they will try to take.

While I was away, my son heard one of the LF Ameraucanas scream--he turned and saw a big hawk (probably red tailed because he first thought vulture, so a pretty big bird) flying very low just past where the hen was. She escaped unharmed.

I'm going to try to catch this fox. I've done a bit of research and it doesn't sound like I have much chance. I think it is a grey fox (I've seen one or two many times crossing the road near my property. I had hoped the presence of my dogs would have kept it away, but apparently not.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I'm sorry your neighbor is feeding the deer and trying to make pets of them. Wild deer can carry several disease pests, ticks and fleas and such. Not to mention being attractive to carnivorous animals. Who will in turn go after your fowl.

I hate those deer. I never thought I could feel so much animosity towards something like a deer. I don't mind dealing with them eating everything--I've spent thousands on rolls of wire to put around all the hundreds of trees and bushes I've planted, but they are downright dangerous. This summer I had many face offs with a pair of stupid does not 20 feet from my front door. I'm dreading this fall as the bucks look very big this year and they have big impressive racks. The game warden would have come to dispatch the two does that wouldn't back down on my doorstep if I had asked, but said once their fawns were bigger they would stop being so stupid. and encouraged me to wait it out.

Here's a picture of the pair turning back my pit bull. Fortunately he's a pretty smart dog--he'll back down and then make little rushes at them until they decide to flee; then he chases them off the property. I'll be really upset if one of my dogs or family (or me!) is hurt or killed by one of those deer. Or my car wrecked because I often count fifteen or twenty deer on and beside the road in front of and beside my property. There are actually two houses that feed the deer, and mine used to be the third, all next to each other. They are very conditioned to be on my property and now they are coming for the chicken feed, so I am guilty on occasion of feeding the deer is they break down the fence I have around the chicken feeder. There really should be a law against feeding the deer. The population is under severe stress with the continued drought in Texas, so feeding the deer only encourages a much larger than normal population to take up residence near the feeder which doesn't give them enough food to survive, only to lure them to the area. There are just too many deer for the land so they are starving, runty and unhealthy.

 

[hendricks115]

What kitchen equipment does everyone use for grinding meat and such?

I use my kitchen aid mixer grinder attachments for small amounts but we have a very large grinder and slicer (professional models) that we bought from a meat processor/packer a couple of years ago that was closing. We use that mostly when we are processing deer for burger and sausage. We also have a grain mill. So far my hubby has only used it for the grains he is using to make beer but I just ordered some raw almonds and I plan on grinding them for flour once they arrive.

 

[Tomtommom]

I'd eat those deer

 

[Happy Chooks]

I seem to have a fox problem and could do with some advice.

About two weeks ago something took a little Silkie hen not thirty feet from my back porch. It took the hen through a 6 inch x 6.5 inch opening in the fence (ordinary farm fence, feathers top and bottom of the opening and feathers on the other side of the fence).

The bantam flock--now 5 Silkie hens, a Silkie rooster, a Cochin rooster and a LF Polish free range in my back yard. Behind is brush. My neighbor behind/beside me told me she lost 20 chickens to a fox last year--maybe this spring. She has no dog; I have many.

While I was away for a week in the ten days after the Silkie hen was taken, two LF (and quite big birds) 7-month-old Ameraucana cockerels were taken.

I have a free range flock of large fowl, mostly Ameraucanas,in my front yard. The property is pretty much pie shaped. The "danger" area of bush runs along the south and east side of my back yard. The front yard chickens' coop/feeding area is near the east fence line with the meadow/bush behind.

I finally found the poof of feathers from the two LFcockerels. It seems one was cornered along the back fence where there were a lot of feathers, then a few feathers high up on the fence (I have about 36" of chicken wire along that part of the fence). There were three other poofs of that bird's feathers in three more places on the other side of the fence. I found one poof of feathers for the second cockerel in the same place as the other cockerel left his poofs of feathers.

Does that sound like a fox? What does a racoon kill look like? I found no blood and nothing other than feathers.

My neighbor told me she has seen a fox trotting up her driveway at noon. I got the impression that her sighting was associated with a kill.

How do you catch a fox? I plan to buy an extra large trap. My neighbor has not had any luck trapping this fox. I might try to train it to go into the trap with cat food. At least when I am training him to go near the trap, he will be getting fed and not be so inclined to go after my chickens.

I've been a basket case worrying about my chickens. The fox or whatever it is knows it can get an easy meal at my house and they aren't very well protected. I've been outside a lot, especially at dusk, and have had the dogs out a lot.

I intend to get a new coop and put a fenced yard around it so that I can put the chickens in a safe yard before they want to go to roost, but that might take a few months. That won't protect the backyard flock of mostly Silkies, who do not have the evasion skills of a large fowl with wings.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. A gun is not an option. If I actually catch the fox, I'm quite sure my neighbor will dispose of it.

Your best bet are the dogs chasing it off. I've had losses to both foxes and bobcats - both leave feathers or no trace at all. Raccoons are vicious and leave a carcass or pieces of a carcass. We have a friend that used to be a trapper, and he said foxes and bobcats are pretty darn hard to trap. (and said the best way to get them is with a snare, which I wasn't willing to do) And if the trap fails or closes prematurely with the fox there, you'll never get it in a trap. Foxes can climb easily as well, so take that into consideration when trying to protect your flock. Try to make it harder on the fox too in your coop/run set up.

My dog has chased many foxes off and a bobcat. They come around every so often, but don't stick around with my dog chasing them.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I'd eat those deer

I'd like to but it is illegal to fire a gun or a cross bow on my property. Somebody else would have to do it anyway since I have one heck of a time culling the cockerels from my straight run orders and hatches. No one I know is prepared to lose their opportunity for legal hunting and risk whatever other criminal charges they would face. I would like to fence the property in 6 or 7 foot high fencing, but I have to think long and hard about the cost of that. I have two acres.