I totally intended to post this last weekend, and even have a half-finished post on the garden... But, I'm totally bummed and not motivated due to a couple critter deaths and some missing over the last week.
We had to put Betty barred rock down. She was the sole survivor of the Henry Massacre last year. A good hen that layed well and never got out. Opened the nest box this weekend to see a prolapsed bottom facing me. I think she'd been like that for a few days. Would never have seen it if she hadn't had her butt facing me. When standing, it couldn't be seen. In any case, I'm not going to go into gross detail. I'll just say that it wasn't something we could fix.
Then, Monday afternoon, we realized we were missing guinea girl. We looked everywhere and found no sign that she'd been attacked/eaten/dragged off. Then I looked in the coop and found her dead on the floor. Don't know what happened. She was a little scuffed up, but that may have just been from being kicked around by the chickens jumping down from perches. I don't get it. She was alert and fine the night before when I closed the coop, staring down at me from a perch. Maybe something grabbed her and she got away mortally wounded... maybe one of the chickens landed on her just right when jumping down from the perch and broke her neck? No idea.
To top it off, we realized today that the wyandotte and both the marans are missing... Miss wyandotte was last seen day before yesterday when I caught her and put her back in the chicken yard (she's been escaping a LOT lately). Neither of us can remember when we last saw either of the marans... perhaps last weekend? Dunno. I think the coyote is back.
Goal this weekend: move the chicken yard, make sure the fence is supported to where there are no low spots (where the ladies jump over), and electrify it for a while. The blackberries and weeds have grown INTO the fence along the side furthest from the house... we need to remedy that problem so that Dunder can see problems coming and warn the gals. As for me... I've got the rifle loaded, and I'll hang out on the porch tomorrow morning. I can watch some netflix on the iphone and keep and eye out for that damn coyote. We'll see how it goes, eh? Wish me luck!
Anyhow, I'll have another go at an update on farm progress this coming weekend. Just not up to it right now, ya know?
7 comments:
So sorry about the missing ladies!
Definitely sounds like a sneak thief and I hope you get him!
Stay cool this weekend. Well, cool headed if not actually cool.
good luck getting the bastard getting your girls.
Sorry for your losses, for silly birds they sure grow on us.
Sorry to hear about all the poultry problems :(
I'm not sure why, but this year has been relatively free of coyote, bobcat and hawk related chicken deaths. Hope I didn't jinx myself!
The only good coyote is a dead coyote!
I am sorry about all of the losses and awful moments that you've had to deal with. Our chickens are important to us...it's hard to raise them, then to find a mystery ending. Be careful! You just might get a coyote pelt yet!
Lana
That IS a bummer. It seems like things like this all happen at once. I won't lose a chicken in forever then all the sudden a few seem to die for no reason I can figure.
I hope this is it for you.
We've had a coyote hanging around too, although it hasn't gotten any of our birds yet. My husband is very eager to get a shot at it, we just never see it! We hear them in the next field over, catch glimpses of them in the game cams in the lower fields, or hear the neighbor talk about seeing it on the road beside our chicken coop while she's biking for the mail... I hope you get yours soon and before any more hens go missing!
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