Washingtonians

[Illia]

Oh my god!! A BOBCAT just took one of our chickens!!!

Everyone was making a huge ruckus, so I went on out there and saw a small brown animal chasing the flock around in the pasture. Without any hesitation or knowing that animal may even go after me, I ran out there as fast as I could. . . The ** thing took a black chicken and just ran for it!! I chased it all the way to the back of the pasture where it leapt over a downed fence (thanks Elk!

) and couldn't chase it anymore. It was gone. In the woods. I was shaking so bad, and shouting. Luckily, just a moment later, my black hen was ALIVE and running back out of the woods, back to the flock!!! So, I made sure she had a safe trip home, immediately let my yak loose to go after the cat, and got my crossbow, incase it comes back. . . .


This is my first EVER predator problem, and I am still shaking. . . I'm definitely going to reinforce the fence this time, and make sure even elk cannot take it down. . .

I'm also going to make sure my hen (one of my Ameraucanas, too!

) did got get any saliva in her bloodstream. . .

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
i had to look up "puppy strangles" and found this informative article:

http://www.brytestar.com/strangles.pdf

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Sorry to hear about the fighting roos, the sick puppy, the poorly truck and Illia's hen!

Illia, be forwarned, he will be back. Two summer's ago we were losing a hen or two every night right out of the new coop. We had only put bird netting over the run. We couldn't figure out who was taking them or how. One night I let the dog out and looked over at the coops and saw a big cat sitting on the roof. DH went out and he jumped down into the brambles and DH shined a flashlight right at him and it was a bobcat. The next day, we realized he had torn back a tiny corner of the bird netting up near the roof and was jumping down into the run and helping himself to whomever was in the coop! Needless to say, we covered the run with wire fencing after that. But he came back and helped himself 3-4 days in a row once he found a food source!

 

[TheReidHomestead]

With all you folks who like to cook here, has anyone ever made their own greek style yogurt? One of my DD's can't get enough of it but dang, it's not cheap! I came across this recipe for making your own, but it looks a little complicated. http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/skinny-secrets/healthy-homemade-greek-yogurt

Does anyone have an easier method? I might have to give this a try!

 

[Ogress]

Quote:
What a scare, hopefully you and the hen will stop shaking soon. Poor hen! Hopefully the bobcat did not break her skin...

I see them in my yard sometimes too, though usually just on the other side of the fence. The one is see most often is very reddish colored with long legs. He/she? watches the chickens intently, but looks too well fed to bother trying to get through the fence. It used to come around often pre-chickens, and when we had only one dog who is quite the marshmallow. Ever since we've had Shasta, my 1 yo, noisy, hyperpoodle/GSD mix, I hardly ever see the cats or raccoons anymore, even in the dog-free part of our yard.

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
i had to look up "puppy strangles" and found this informative article:

http://www.brytestar.com/strangles.pdf

That is a great article! You can tell how much puppy strangles we see, since I assumed it was infectious like strangles in horses! LOL

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Aww, poor little girl... Hoping for good news for Miss Sadie.

 

[SadieSue]

Quote:
Holy cr**! So your hen actually got loose from the bobcat? Have you EVER seen any bobcats before out your way? So scary... The yak took off after the cat, huh? Let us know what's happening there.

 

[Rainwolf]

Quote:
Pacific is the location south of Auburn, off Highway 167, correct? I will call and confirm to pick up my gf's feed on Thursday then. I hope I'm doing right. She's very excited to try it.

I would call before if you can and get the address too.

 

[Illia]

The bobcat DID break the skin. I've got the hen in isolation right now, and she's got a huge gash in her black, plus a couple scratches on her neck. Her breathing sounds weird, but she's taking this all very well. The back gash is creepy - I can see flesh and fat. I cleaned it up, and to great surprise, she didn't flinch. I'm just a little panicked also because I have nothing to stitch it with and I can't find the neosporin we had ooh a year ago.