There he sat hissing.

[soonerdog]

I went outside this morning to feed my chickens. I noticed I was missing my favorite birchen rooster.

I walked inside the cage and there lay the rooster dead inside of the nest box.

While I was examining the rooster to determine his cause of death I found loose feathers in the bottom of the nesting box. There was a small amount of blood inside the roosters mouth. I was puzzled, there did not seem to be any real trauma indicating that the rooster had been killed. All of the sudden, I heard an awefully loud "hissing" sound coming from underneath the nesting boxes. Right there at me was one of the biggest possums I have ever seen!

I pounded him over the head with an iron bar!

Sorry Rooster-Red, but this possum met his match.

 

[Buster]

I'd have done the same! Congratulations, but I am so sorry you lost such a beautiful bird in the ordeal. If I remember right, I've seen pictures of him. You have such amazing looking birds. I am sorry you had to lose him.

 

[soonerdog]

I have some eggs in the bator. I am praying, hoping and wishing that they hatch well. Maybe I will be fortunate enough to have another one just like my original birchen rooster.

 

[Buster]

for you

 

[jjthink]

That poor roo...so sorry.
JJ

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I'm that possum met his match! I know he was just getting dinner, but he should have gotten it in his own neck of the woods. Did you find how the hungry critter found his way into your coop?

I hope your eggs hatch out well!

-Kim

 

[Moonwalker]

We have a lot of oppossums around here and I used to have one that went in my trash all the time. Until I had a litter of baby skunks on my porch! I heard a racket on the porch and went out and it was trying to get in the cage (don't know if he was after the babies ot thier food dish)I swear this possum weighed 20 lbs! It was huge! Needless to say, it got sprayed. That was 2 summers ago and I haven't seen or heard one on the porch or in the trash since.
Just a thought: has anyone tried applying skunk stink around their coops to keep possums away? or would that attact skunks?

 

[Buster]

soonerdog I sent you a pm.

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Aw. I'm so sorry...

 

[spiritualmystic]

I sure know how you feel. Last year we had a coon parade around here. We kept missing chickens and missing chickens. All my favorite ones went by by. Then one night my husband heard the chickens going crazy. He went out to the back and caught a giant raccoon breaking into the pen. This raccoon was not scared of him. He pawed at my husband and hissed at him. My husband didnt have the heart to kill him, so he hit him with something, and he ran away. But....the moral of the story is....he came back again the next night. We ended up setting a trap. We caught him, but his relatives came to visit. So...we kept setting the trap.
The other day I had my favorite rooster go missing. It was a clean (no feathers) kill, or carry away. I think it is the black Coyote I've seen around here.