- Apr 14, 2014
- 286
- 9
- 88
So so sorry to hear that.
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I'm confused as to what might have done it. I only heard my guineas yell once, and by the time I got out there, the damage was done. One guinea and two chickens are gone, except for one wing and a whole lot of feathers. One of the chicken corpses was headless, but we found the head a few feet away. All of the others were fine and bloodless, except for a twisted backward neck. That is 9 bloodless broken neck kills. What would do that? Also, my coop was for the most part untouched, which gets even crazier since that's where they all were! In one spot the netting, which should stand up to raccoons, dogs, etc, was not solid, I'd patched it, but it wasn't a large patch and I thought I'd done a really good job. But the patch was pulled off and something had squeezed through so I'm thinking raccoon...but another weird thing...that hole didn't lead to the run. It was on the outside. But the chickens were all found in the run, except for three (including the headless one) which were found outside the far end away from the coop. The fence was torn down in three places, which I don't think raccoons could have done but a dog could, once by the coop next to the hole, and twice on the far end again. I dressed and ran out as fast as I could and when I got there a couple of bodies were still warm (though definitely dead) but most of them were completely cold. Could this have been two attacks within just a couple of hours by different animals? Did I just not hear my guineas or were they just silent? There was no barking! We do have two neighbor dogs that are off their leash more often than not, and the trail of feathers leads toward their house, but not close enough for any sort of proof. We've had issues with them in our yard but never near our chickens before. Our dog killed a chick yesterday, though I don't think he meant to? But he was locked up inside.
I don't know what to do. The damage was enough that while I still have lots of usable stuff, I don't think I have the right stuff to build the fortress I apparently need. And I certainly don't have the money right now. I'm thinking about giving my remaining chicken and the 5 little chicks to a friend, and just waiting till I have enough money to build a chicken vault. Which wouldn't be till next year. That's if I can gather the heart to try again. My daughters have been crying all night.
One thing that helps deter predators from tearing into fences is electric fence wire around your pen. One wire about 6 inches from the ground, another 6 to 8 inches above that one. You can get a fence charger for a decent price. A wet nose, or little paw on an electric fence wire changes their plans very quickly!!!!I'm confused as to what might have done it. I only heard my guineas yell once, and by the time I got out there, the damage was done. One guinea and two chickens are gone, except for one wing and a whole lot of feathers. One of the chicken corpses was headless, but we found the head a few feet away. All of the others were fine and bloodless, except for a twisted backward neck. That is 9 bloodless broken neck kills. What would do that? Also, my coop was for the most part untouched, which gets even crazier since that's where they all were! In one spot the netting, which should stand up to raccoons, dogs, etc, was not solid, I'd patched it, but it wasn't a large patch and I thought I'd done a really good job. But the patch was pulled off and something had squeezed through so I'm thinking raccoon...but another weird thing...that hole didn't lead to the run. It was on the outside. But the chickens were all found in the run, except for three (including the headless one) which were found outside the far end away from the coop. The fence was torn down in three places, which I don't think raccoons could have done but a dog could, once by the coop next to the hole, and twice on the far end again. I dressed and ran out as fast as I could and when I got there a couple of bodies were still warm (though definitely dead) but most of them were completely cold. Could this have been two attacks within just a couple of hours by different animals? Did I just not hear my guineas or were they just silent? There was no barking! We do have two neighbor dogs that are off their leash more often than not, and the trail of feathers leads toward their house, but not close enough for any sort of proof. We've had issues with them in our yard but never near our chickens before. Our dog killed a chick yesterday, though I don't think he meant to? But he was locked up inside.
I don't know what to do. The damage was enough that while I still have lots of usable stuff, I don't think I have the right stuff to build the fortress I apparently need. And I certainly don't have the money right now. I'm thinking about giving my remaining chicken and the 5 little chicks to a friend, and just waiting till I have enough money to build a chicken vault. Which wouldn't be till next year. That's if I can gather the heart to try again. My daughters have been crying all night.