This is a very hard hobby to have at times.

[Scottingitup]

Friday night I had the worst predator attack in my short history of raising turkeys. I believe it was a racoon. 6 Initial deaths.

• 2 teenagers beheaded
• 3 (3 month olds) killed in various other ways
• 1 hen with an entire leg ripped off.
• And the worst thing I've ever experienced, a hen that was somehow still alive with her entire left muscle mass eaten off. The poor thing was eaten alive :-(
• That hen was the mom to a 5 day old poult as well - another hen attempted to adopt the poult but failed and squished it overnight.

Despite patching up the rest the best I could another 5 succumbed to their injuries.

I lost an adult hen last week from her trying to brood and not eating/drinking enough. The rain and flies here have just been relentless.

I grabbed every egg I could find an fired up the incubator. My tom/hen ratio is now shot (1:1 now) and I won't have any birds to sell for thanksgiving.

My land is fenced completely and the birds are penned up at night. I borrowed a game camera from my neighbor and I guess it's time to look into electric fencing.


Between the dog problems I have had and now this I am just really disheartened and about to give up.

 

[Shellz]

Or a crossbow! I started with an air rifle, then air pistol, then crossbow. None of these need licences, in Canada anyway. We graduated to more powerful firearms with the licences & education to make legal. We can sometimes have black bears in the area, so we need to be prepared.

A good air rifle with a good head shot should do it though! Live trap them & you can't miss a good shot.

 

[kuntrygirl]

OMG! Is that a dog?! Do what you have to do. Good luck & keep us posted!

x2



I would not have guess a dog. OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know who the dog belongs to? Too bad the owners will never see him again. They should have kept him contained on their property.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I hope that you get whatever it is. That burns me up to know that something got your birds.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Glad that nothing has happened but don't let your guard down. When you do that, that killer will be back. And as for Coors the rooster, give him a beer and quiet him down.

 

[cococrispy]

Stay vigilant! Once a predator knows where the coop is they will come back eventually

 

[Scottingitup]

Today I bring better news.

The snares worked PERFECTLY I caught a nasty old big male coyote who came in last night. He has since been dealt with. No birds injured.

I will reset the snare this evening - probably going to keep them up 24/7/365. Also the babies are doing well.

 

[kuntrygirl]

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!! ALRIGHT!!!!! That's what im talking bout! I'm over hear screaming and shouting and jumping up and down as if I was the lucky one. Good job!! Way to go!!!! I'm so happy for you and to know no more losses. Good job dealing with the offender. Giving you a high five from here.

AWESOMENESS! !!!!!!

 

[redsoxs]

Really sorry to hear about that. Sounds pretty horrific. Raccoons are the worst. Hope you catch, shot, trap, whatever it takes to get rid of them. Good luck to you!

 

[Shellz]

OMG! That has got to be one of the worst attacks I've ever heard on here! I'm so sorry for your losses!

I have raccoons & in the past foxes. I've live trapped & killed a couple coons this year. I free range & have had losses to foxes. I have 2 dogs that patrol off & on all day long & 0 losses to preds this year. The problem was my dogs weren't trained yet to stay off the road (no perimeter fence) & I had to put them in the house whenever I needed to leave. That's when foxes would strike. This year, I can trust them & they are doing a great job! They chase off everything & succeed without damage to themselves. I watched as my larger dog (only 35lbs) slowly escorted 2 large roaming Labrador dogs off our property. If you can find a couple of good mutts to train, they can be invaluable! We got a pug mix later (20 lbs) & she learned from big bro how to take care of business. I saw her chase off a fox last year. She sure has spunk! These dogs have good sense too, in that they don't get too close to coyotes, but are able to get the message across! They don't fall for their tricks either. Having dogs spayed & neutered helps.

I wish you the best & hope you can get things running again. It's hard to take, but learn from it & you can enjoy raising poultry again!