What happened to my goose babies

Bobcat. 

Gone are Affie, Baby Girl, and my big bitey jerky gander Bitor. I really loved him, for all that he was a bitey jerk. He had one hell of a personality. Sweet Girl passed a couple months ago, and we couldn't find a mark on her.  We figured there must have just been something wrong with her, but perhaps that had been a bobcat too.

Took precautions, weren't good enough. Damn cat came within 30 yards of our house. Don't know why it went after the geese instead of the ducks.  We ended up moving what fowl were left (the 3 ducks) to the pen next to the house.

Hubby went out and bought a furtaker's license and a bobcat card.  We'd determined it was a bobcat due to pics on game cams we'd set out.  Over the first weekend he had it, he got not one... but TWO freaking bobcats.  Both females.  @$#%@#$%#$  A friend of ours is a rather good hobby taxidermist, and we're gonna get his help to cure the pelts. 

I've decided that I won't have any more farm critters that are "pets".  We can't make our critter areas absolutely impenetrable.  Don't ask why or berate that I don't.  It's just not currently feasible, and I'll leave it at that. 


RIP my little goose babies.

 

 

RIP Affie Girl

LJ found Affie dead in the pen this morning. Apparently she was next to the fence, all curled up like she'd normally be for sleep, but missing her head. :( She was my darling girl, and the only one of our original geese that I considered a pet. The very same goose that nearly committed suicide the day we brought her home as a gosling, horking down a piece of shaving that we managed to dislodge before she could choke to death.

Gotta love breaking into tears while at work. Not awkward at all.

I'm heartbroken.

We'll bury her tonight, and I will be beefing up the goose pen by headlamp and putting out game cams to see if we can figure what did it. :(

We'll miss you sweetie pie.

I spotted a Maran

No joke. I mentioned before that both the marans are missing. Well, I was working from home yesterday, and happened to look out the window, and there was one of the marans guzzling water. She was acting very broody, puffed up, clucking away to herself, and pecking at the other chickens when they crowded her. She went over and started eating, and next time I looked up, she was gone again. So, my guess is that she's got a nest out under the brush pile (where we have no way of reaching her). I hope the other maran is out there with her. We are reasonably certain that the Wyandotte is gone, as I found a pile of breast feathers about 50' from the chicken yard, out in the woods. :(

Maybe the maran ladies will turn up with a mess of chicks someday soon (like we need more chickens).

Totally bummed

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?

Coyote casing the chicken yard

Saw a coyote about 10 feet from the chicken yard this morning before work. Guineas, rooster, and the crows that live in the nearby trees were flipping out and the hens were running for the coop. By the time I grabbed my rifle and loaded it, coyote was gone. Looks like we'll be putting up game cams and watching closely in the mornings. Hopefully we'll get him before he gets any of our birds (or Gus, who isn't a huge dog). That coyote was HUGE. Biggest coyote I've ever seen.

My dog killed a skunk... Warning... Dead skunk pic.

Yep. Henry got his first skunk last night, about 100' from the turkey pen. He was just protecting the livestock, right? Riiiiight... He bounded off into the bushes, leaping around like a fox hunting in the snow. Next thing I know, he's wiping his face in the grass. Yuck. It was a young skunk, and Henry appeared to have killed it with little to no resistance. Luckily, he hadn't gotten bitten, and is up to date on his rabies shots. Skunk appeared healthy (other than the whole being dead part).

So, I got to stay up late, washing skunk stank off my dog. The miracle mixture? A bottle of peroxide, a heaping 1/4 cup of baking soda, and a good squirt of dish soap. Mixed it all together, lathered him up, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Took the stink away like magic! Luckily, it didn't really get his face, just his neck. I think he hated the bath more than the spray. Lol. Poor kid. No... Poor me. After washing the stinky pup, I got to go out and cut the head off the skunk with a shovel. See, when I was a kid, rabies was a terrifying thing. More than once, one of the dogs got a skunk. We would have to quarantine the dog while the vermin was tested. I cut the head off so the brain could be tested if necessary. Quadruple bagged it and popped it in the shop freezer, as the brain apparently decomposes pretty fast. I was up until nearly midnight... Ugh. Turns out not necessary. I called our vet this morning, and they said don't worry about it, since Henry is up to date on shots and wasn't bitten. Just need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't react badly to the spray. I guess some dogs have severe reactions. So much for my paranoia. Anyhow, at least that little skunk won't be developing a taste for poultry, eh?

The cherry on top? Henry went and rolled in the spray this afternoon, and I got to wash him again... Oh joy! :)

(This post gets a LOT of hits. Leave a comment if you have a moment! :) I would love to hear if the peroxide mixture worked for you, or hear your dog vs skunk story.)