I have a four foot fence all around the chicken run and nothing had dug under it. All the gates were all shut to the run and to the whole yard. Something had to jump over several fences to get them.
I am just numb. I can't believe some animal would do that much carnage.
There were some large footprints in the run so I took some pics. Any guesses to what it was? My neighbour thinks it was a cougar or bobcat.
I caught the survivors and gave them to a neighbour who has her chickens in a covered run and dogs in her yard so they will be safe. They were so scared - poor things.
All I have left is Lulu and she isn't happy with me because I won't let her out of my sight and won't let her stay out in the yard by herself.
It is so quiet and lonely in the yard. :(
Oh gosh. I'm speechless. And so sorry. I hope you sort out what that was and can do something to keep your hens safe so they can come back.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went out this morning there were more tracks in the yard so it was back last night. Thank goodness the rest of the girls weren't here! By looking at the tracks and from looking at pics, I'd have to say it was canine of some sort whether dog, coyote or coydog mix. I could see the nails in the new tracks so that rules out feline as they retract their claws. Lulu is upset that I won't let her out unless I'm there. Since I'm busy canning, she has to be in more and is not happy. But I refuse to take a chance and lose her too!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo sorry about your chickens. I'm glad Lulu is okay. You seem to have a special bond with her. I hope you get your chickens home soon.
ReplyDeleteOh Joan! I am so very, very sorry to hear of the loss of your beautiful flock. Thank goodness Lulu is ok. Sending lots of hugs at this awful time xxxx
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry-- What a terrible loss. The prints are huge and it makes me wonder if there wasn't something wrong with the animal to kill that many chickens... I hope Lulu's reunited with the rest of her flock soon. Again, I'm so sorry...
ReplyDeleteJoan, I am so heartbroken on what happened to your chickens. Please don't give up on getting another flock together , I so enjoy reading your blog on chickens, Lulu, traveling,gardening and cooking. You make my day.
ReplyDeleteOh how awful. We have tremendous predator issues here too. I watched a bobcat take out one of my girls while I was standing just six feet away from her last year (he got inside the electric fence, and I was outside). The only hen we've actually lost to a predator, but it's a constant struggle to keep them safe.
ReplyDeleteThe paw print, to my eye, looks entirely too large to be bobcat, and we have some real bruisers around here! Cougar is certainly a possibility based on size and shape. Our mountain lions here are very adept, and can easily scale even tall fences. We're designing a goat barn at the moment, and the biggest challenge will be keeping the lions out! I'm so sorry you lost your girls. One can understand one or two for food, but the flock, it's just heartbreaking.
Oh how awful that is! A canine that big might bite humans too maybe if they are very hungry already, dont you think so! It's scary! My mother will be so depressed if her chickens will be lost at the same time like that. In our case, the thieves are python, monitor lizard, crows and hawks. At least the birds get only the chicks. One night, we heard a shriek and after getting flashlight we saw one chicken already looking dead embraced by a python, my first time to see python in our area. My mother got a pole and strike it several times while i was holding the light on it. I was scared but at least the python just left to the trees above it, and the chicken we took for dead got alive again after several minutes. It was the size of a moderately sized upper arm.
ReplyDeletePumas kill a lot of animals in one night when they are teaching their cubs how to hunt. Although they don't eat their kills in that case, it is still killing for food in the sense that it is teaching their cubs how to provide themselves with food. It is shocking if you don't know the reason for the uneaten dead, but less so if you do, though still sad if the animals were your own.
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