Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[TerrorBird]

Well I left a message for the neighbor that "since it wasn't his dog, I would shoot it "... but since it is his dog, I am sure he will keep it chained up since it is his prized and expensive hunting lab.....of course, once I get my security cameras, there will be proof! Then I can call him for payment or Animal control....

Now I let them free range all over the farm when I get home, do my chores then 2 hrs later, when chores and working the Border Collies are all done, all chickens get locked up....oh, I meant locked up in the coop as the dog already dug under the fence to get the hens that were loose in the runs!

I am thinking of how to set a trap to catch the dog...but, then again after the last call, the dog might not come back as I was ****** when I left the message...I also left a message about two weeks ago and in May, the dog did the first kill....and since then the hens have been disappearing on random days so I think it must be the dog since most of happens in the middle of the day or just at dusk (such as after dinner)...I am one of three folks that has called the guy on his dog.....I will get this resolved.

On a side note, I am looking for Isbars.

Is there any chance that Amelia could be hiding somewhere, or does evidence suggest that she's truly gone? I'm so sorry.

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

I WISH she was hiding but walked all over...found feathers and no sign of her. She comes running when I call out to her. Found a couple of dead BCM hens the same day she went missing. Feathers all around and chest crushed, then left. if it was a bobcat, or coyote, they carry off the hens. The same carnage is the exact way is when I found the lab, the first time, trying to kill some more hens...after he killed the ones in the barn...(three Marans that time) ....same style and evidence.





This was Amelia.

My Border Collies are trained to find the missing hens to put them away and we scoured the farm looking for her...all we found was the wild duck mama and her ducklings.....

I rarely name chickens nor get attached to them, but she was hand raised then I got her....she was very tame and eat out of my hands. She was comfortable about the dogs and they ignored her. So the lab probably walked right up to her.....my dogs do not bother the chickens unless it is time to put them away and I give them the command to pen the hens. The hens run around the dogs and the dogs ignore them......

Anyways, I am sad...out of 50 plus chickens......my pet....sheesh!!!

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Well, I got the baby cages all waterproofed, I hope, in case it does rain tonight; I have been feeling terrible all day, I over-did yesterday and my ribs are barking at me and I'm also having a bad probably-allergic-reaction in my mouth, should not have eaten anything I didn't cook or know who did at the wedding because people hide almonds in *everything.*

The good thing is I have my apprentice; a young woman I've known since her birth (rather like my hired hand) needs to live in Olympia and get her residence before she starts college. We need to sit down and write apprenticeship papers so things like when I can depend on her to be here and what she can expect in the way of duties is clear. Part of what she' going to do is help me get off the place more often, including taking birds to auction and going to plant sales, f'rinstance.

 

[TerrorBird]

I WISH she was hiding but walked all over...found feathers and no sign of her. She comes running when I call out to her. Found a couple of dead BCM hens the same day she went missing. Feathers all around and chest crushed, then left. if it was a bobcat, or coyote, they carry off the hens. The same carnage is the exact way is when I found the lab, the first time, trying to kill some more hens...after he killed the ones in the barn...(three Marans that time) ....same style and evidence.





This was Amelia.

My Border Collies are trained to find the missing hens to put them away and we scoured the farm looking for her...all we found was the wild duck mama and her ducklings.....

I rarely name chickens nor get attached to them, but she was hand raised then I got her....she was very tame and eat out of my hands. She was comfortable about the dogs and they ignored her. So the lab probably walked right up to her.....my dogs do not bother the chickens unless it is time to put them away and I give them the command to pen the hens. The hens run around the dogs and the dogs ignore them......

Anyways, I am sad...out of 50 plus chickens......my pet....sheesh!!!

Last summer, we thought something had grabbed Pudge. She was missing (except for a pile of feathers) for about half an hour. She turned up in the pen eating scratch with everyone else. I was hoping that the same thing happened with Amelia. I do know exactly how you feel. My Pengin was grabbed by a coyote earlier this month; I spent over a month of my life in a room with her and her three sisters since they were two days old. My heart goes out to you.

 

[niroha]

Welcome!

Lots of nice BYCers in that area, stick around and get to know us, we're a nice group
BOs are really nice, and so pretty! Just plan a coop that's twice as big as you think you'll need, and make it VERY secure against predators!!!

I have my own dogs I'll need to protect them from. I plan on having a fenced off orchard that I'd like them to meander in and have a secure coop to go in at night. I figured I'd just get a few buffs from a local person, but my reading here made me realize there are all sorts of colors of orpingtons which makes me want them ALL. So yeah. I'll be getting a big coop.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

Hey there,  I was wondering when we'd see the FlyingMonkeyPoop again!     Glad to hear things are going well.  Sweet deal on the roosters!   There was someone in just the past few days asking about other BYCers in your area.  I hope they found you. Hope you have time to stick around for a while now.

This thread moves so fast so its hard to keep up. I left my retail job and work 6 days a week at a dairy, feeding the nation is much nicer than helping over populate it with pets, LOL! Plus coming into fall, I'll be judging a few fairs and culling birds so always busy. Folks can always message me here or on facebook too

 

[beausonge]

I WISH she was hiding but walked all over...found feathers and no sign of her. She comes running when I call out to her. Found a couple of dead BCM hens the same day she went missing. Feathers all around and chest crushed, then left. if it was a bobcat, or coyote, they carry off the hens. The same carnage is the exact way is when I found the lab, the first time, trying to kill some more hens...after he killed the ones in the barn...(three Marans that time) ....same style and evidence. This was Amelia. My Border Collies are trained to find the missing hens to put them away and we scoured the farm looking for her...all we found was the wild duck mama and her ducklings..... I rarely name chickens nor get attached to them, but she was hand raised then I got her....she was very tame and eat out of my hands. She was comfortable about the dogs and they ignored her. So the lab probably walked right up to her.....my dogs do not bother the chickens unless it is time to put them away and I give them the command to pen the hens. The hens run around the dogs and the dogs ignore them...... Anyways, I am sad...out of 50 plus chickens......my pet....sheesh!!!

I am so sorry for your loss. Really friendly chickens are so sweet and prescious. She was very cute. Last summer our neighbors very expensive bird hunting dog killed several of our ducks and chickens. We knew it was a hunting dog because their chests were crushed like yours. My husband talked to the neighbor who whined about how expensive his dog was, blah, blah, blah. My husband told him his very accurate 22 did not know the difference between an expensive hunting dog and a mangy coyote if it was on our property. We have never seen that dog on our property since.

 

[Totalcolour]

I am so sorry for your loss. Really friendly chickens are so sweet and prescious. She was very cute. Last summer our neighbors very expensive bird hunting dog killed several of our ducks and chickens. We knew it was a hunting dog because their chests were crushed like yours. My husband talked to the neighbor who whined about how expensive his dog was, blah, blah, blah. My husband told him his very accurate 22 did not know the difference between an expensive hunting dog and a mangy coyote if it was on our property. We have never seen that dog on our property since.

If the chest was crushed in, wasn't a hunting dog, or at least, not a good one. A good hunting dog should not leave a mark on a bird that it retrieves. Himself hunts, and his dad had a really good Spaniel (cocker I think) ; she never left a mark and there was never one feather out of of place. I had an Irish setter show dog in England years ago. She would retrieve too, and never even saliva on the prey, let alone any other mark.

So, tell you neighbour his EXPENSIVE hunting dog is worth nada, zip, zilch and deserves to meet his maker! (And I'm a dog lover. Actually, it's the neighbour who should be shot, the dog is only doing what dogs do)

 

[Duck Drover]

I have my own dogs I'll need to protect them from. I plan on having a fenced off orchard that I'd like them to meander in and have a secure coop to go in at night. I figured I'd just get a few buffs from a local person, but my reading here made me realize there are all sorts of colors of orpingtons which makes me want them ALL. So yeah. I'll be getting a big coop.

I have some blue and lavender Orpington chicks that I just put outside and more due to hatch. I have a blue, a black, and a splash I am considering keeping if they are pullets but I am still uncertain because they are my first Orpingtons. Their combs are light while the Black Copper Marans roosters close to the same age have bright red combs and the Barnevelder roosters that are younger are getting red combs but when I have three of the same sex and none of the opposite sex I have nothing to compare them to in order to be sure. My lavenders are unrelated to the BBS so I could still keep the splash if it is a cockerel and put it with the lavenders (although I am not sure what color that would produce) but since I recently sold my Easter Egger rooster with some of my pullets to keep him from breeding the Silkies I am trying to keep only Silkie roosters. I have Silkie chicks for sale too. I am near the Covington Walmart.

Two of my Easter Egger hens got in the neighbors yard with their German Shepherd yesterday so I clipped wings last nigh to keep them grounded. I already clipped young ducks' wings because one managed to get over the fence. The dog did grab one hen and put her in shock so they thought it was dead but I brought it home and it was just limping so I think it will be okay. I can't blame the dog when my chickens got into his yard. Fortunately he is old and his teeth are not sharp enough to do much damage.

I used to go to the Enumclaw auction all the time 20 years ago because I drove for a big buyer and did some of my own buying and selling but what concerns me about buying from the auction is knowing that what people take there are birds they would not want to sell face to face. I don't want someone else's problems so I would rather pay a little more to get them from an individual. I am learning not to trust individuals who care more about taking my money than about their own reputation because I have had bad experiences with two people now and will never do business with either one of them again. At least I know who to avoid by dealing with them directly but the issue I have with this woman in Auburn selling me a laying hen and then putting her on a nest so she stopped laying and not allowing me to take possession of my own property is so dishonest that I never expected that to happen. The hen I took home is stressed out without her companion so she is not laying but she should start up again. I don't know how long it will take for my other hen to start laying after she has been used to hatch chicks for this woman but the fact that she is so unethical in the business transactions I have had with her has taught me that I don't want anything to do with her in the future.

 

[BGMatt]

No doubt. That's a really raw deal. Can't believe there's folks out there who deal so dishonestly, but it seems that stuff is happening more and more these days.