Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[LittleLaneFarm]

The coyotes come right up to our fence but have thankfully never tried to make the 6'+ jump...we have been known to fire a shot in the air when they get too close. I cant stand the racket they make, I stay up worrying until I can hear them move on.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

The coyotes come right up to our fence but have thankfully never tried to make the 6'+ jump...we have been known to fire a shot in the air when they get too close. I cant stand the racket they make, I stay up worrying until I can hear them move on.

Coyotes- like all predators- are realistic, AKA lazy. They don't jump fences if they can find a gate, and they don't find a gate if they can smell a juicy garbage can or see an inattentive cat (the cat claws in today's coyote scat reminded me: cats are particularly vulnerable to coyotes because they have predator reflexes, not prey ones). It's only easy to discourage them if there's easy prey nearby, but there usually is easy prey nearby.

If there isn't easy prey nearby, they can climb woven-wire and get over fences that are a lot more than six feet tall, dig down to China, and bite through cedar yard fence if they want to.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

I'm so sorry.

How disheartening. I hope your remaining ducklings thrive!

I hope so too. I removed them from with their moms to avoid anymore trampling. the ducklings are upset but i think they'll do okay in a few days they wont remember to much.

 

[LittleLaneFarm]

Coyotes- like all predators- are realistic, AKA lazy. They don't jump fences if they can find a gate, and they don't find a gate if they can smell a juicy garbage can or see an inattentive cat (the cat claws in today's coyote scat reminded me: cats are particularly vulnerable to coyotes because they have predator reflexes, not prey ones). It's only easy to discourage them if there's easy prey nearby, but there usually is easy prey nearby.

Im a farm girl, so Im not unfamiliar with what they can do I am the only fully securely fenced property in this farming area though so Im sure that does help with keeping them away for the most part.

If there isn't easy prey nearby, they can climb woven-wire and get over fences that are a lot more than six feet tall, dig down to China, and bite through cedar yard fence if they want to.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Im a farm girl, so Im not unfamiliar with what they can do I am the only fully securely fenced property in this farming area though so Im sure that does help with keeping them away for the most part.

This is where I live; not my house, that's where my cousin lives; his unknown large number randomly changing chicken collection live in the red thing. Note cows: those are mine.

The coyotes live up behind where this photo was taken, although one of them has dug a deep burrow in the hilside off to the left of this picture.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: We've started making sure Rosie stays inside at night. She's not happy about it, but it would break Mr Hallerlake's heart if anything happened to his little gray shadow.

 

[Gut Pile]

New to BYC, but life long Washingtonian, dry-sider. Go Seahawks, but stay away from my chickens!

 

[hallerlake]

Quote: There are plenty of rats and squirrels in the neighborhood. The coyotes can have those with my blessings.

 

[Gut Pile]

My advice, a good dose of lead is the best cure for coyotes.

 

[robj]

Hello fellow Washingtonians!

New people to the thread or BYC

Welcome to the thread silly!

We need a welcome to the thread happy chicken!!

I can't swear here, can I? Because I feel like swearing. I lost another one of the Hamburgs: Maggie was dead of a broken neck, I think, crashed down at the bottom of the door to the coop when I went out this morning: no missing feathers, even, her feet in fight position and her head down and loose.

I guess I could just put up a string of big red asterisks, that would express my current state of mind, so:

*** ****** ***********!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does that help?





Well, no, actually, not so much.

Not even after adding the exclamation points.

That sucks eggs! Sorry you lost Maggie

Yup, that's about it. I went around to check if anything had dug under the fence and gotten into the pen, but all I found was that the cattle had stuck their tongues in as far as they could to get the green grass between the pasture fence and the yard fence, which might have startled her. There's a couple of blood streaks down the inside of the door, and with that and the position I found her in, and the fact she weighed more than the Am rooster who died (and he was a big example of a much bigger breed, while she was the smallest of the Hamburg hens) tends to make me think she stupided herself to death.

Still need to get the other two out of that pen and the two other hens in with them. Problem is that I need help to get that accomplished and it's going to take more than one other person to get it done.

And, of course, the wedding's coming up in eleven days, and the Thurston County Fair the week after that (which takes The Nephew out of the calculation).

I'd come out and give you a hand but I'm tied up at our place redoing the siding and prepping for paint.