Life in the country isn’t all always peaceful and pretty, as it turns out. A couple of weeks before we left for the low-carb cruise, Chareva found one of our egg-laying chickens dead in the chicken-yard, headless and torn up around the breast area.
Two days later, she found another chicken in the same condition. Then another three days after that. Some kind of predator had discovered our flock and was climbing over the fence to help itself to chicken dinners. Our original flock of 10 was down to seven.
Our nearest neighbor, who knows a lot more about the local critters than I do, told me when you find a headless chicken, the most likely culprit is a raccoon or a possum. A fox was also a possibility, but foxes tend to kill every chicken in the barn, even if they only eat one. Ours were getting mauled one at a time.
I must confess, I didn’t know raccoons attacked other animals. The girls have a story book with a raccoon on the cover, and darned if it doesn’t look cute and harmless.
I put a light out by the chicken barn so I could see, then spent three nights sitting in my car nearby with a .22 in my lap, listening to audiobooks (very quietly, with earbuds) until 1:00 a.m. I don’t know if the predator was scared off by my presence or just wasn’t hungry, but nothing approached the chicken yard during my vigils. I saw what looked like a possum slinking through the grass one night, but it was too far away to be sure, and since it didn’t come anywhere near the barn, I didn’t want to take a shot.
I was worried that the predator would finish off the flock while we were gone for the cruise, so I bought a spring-door trap and set it by the chicken-yard on the day Chareva’s parents were due to arrive. (They stayed at the house while we were on the cruise to look after the girls, the chickens and the dogs, bless them.) I didn’t keep watch that night, figuring abandoning my in-laws to sit outside with a rifle might give them the impression I’m rude and ungrateful, if not borderline psychotic.
Sure enough, the next morning I looked out my bedroom window and could tell the door on the trap had sprung shut, although I couldn’t see what I’d captured. By the time I showered and dressed, Chareva’s father had already taken a walk outside and informed me there was a raccoon in the trap.
Chareva’s mother is an animal-lover – she feeds a raccoon that hangs around their property in Chicago. She asked if I could possibly drive the raccoon somewhere and let it go. I told her what our neighbor told me: those things will find their way back and go after your chickens again. At the very least, it’ll find someone else’s chickens and kill them instead, which isn’t exactly a neighborly way of ridding yourself of a predator. She understood. Since they were all planning on going shopping, I said I’d take care of business while they were out.
When I first approached the raccoon in the cage, it was docile and kind of cute. Gulp. Then as I got closer, it began hissing and raging and baring its teeth and banging around inside the cage. Thanks, Rocky Raccoon. Now I’m seeing the predator that ripped the heads off my chickens. That made it easier to pull the trigger. I dumped the carcass in an overgrown area near our property, figuring the local coyotes or carrion birds will take care of it from there.
Our neighbor had warned me that there could be a family of raccoons nearby, so I re-set the trap before we left for the cruise. Knowing her parents wouldn’t want to shoot the next predator, Chareva gave them our neighbor’s phone number. (He had kindly volunteered his services if need be.)
When we returned from the cruise, we learned that the trap had captured a large possum the night before. I don’t know for sure that the possum was after our chickens, but at this point I pretty much have to assume that any chicken-killing species that gets caught in a trap near the barn was looking for a chicken dinner. Chareva’s parents called our neighbor, who came over and did the deed.
On a more positive note, we have a rooster now. He’s not one we’d want to mix with our hens, so his job is to walk around the land and eat bugs, which he seems happy doing. He’s especially fond of patrolling the area near the creek.
We got him from yet another neighbor who knocked on our door and asked if we wanted a rooster.
“Is there a reason you don’t want him?”
“Yup. He’s mean. He attacks my other chickens. If you want him, you can have him.”
“Our hens are inside a fence, but if he gets in there and attacks them, he’ll probably end up in a soup pot. Are you okay with that?”
“I’m fine with that. We just need to get rid of him.”
The rooster has his own food and water inside the fence where we raised guinea fowl in our failed free-range guinea experiment. He has no interest in staying inside the fence during the day (he climbed out immediately), but if he’s smart, he may spend his nights in there to avoid the coyotes that killed our guinea fowl.
If not … well, like I said, life in the country isn’t always pretty.
UPDATE: Nope, the rooster wasn’t so smart. While writing this post on Saturday morning, it occurred to me that I wasn’t hearing the rooster announcing his presence outside. “Hmm, it’s quiet out there …. too quiet.” So the girls, my visiting nephew and I took a walk around the pastures. We found a pile of feathers, then found some bones nearby. The local coyotes can thank us for yet another tasty meal.
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Donkeys know the difference between “friend & foe”; they are smart lil’ buggers!
I can’t say enough good things about my Burro Boyz; they’ve lived peacefully w/my own dogs for 20 yrs now…
Your girls would love one – they are absolutely the safest equine to have around children – they just don’t kick, bite, buck, or throw fits like ponies or horses can and do! The worst they will do is mug you for treats 😉
I’m still worried that one of my rotties will charge out there and get kicked. I’d hate to guess and be wrong.
I always tell people trying chickens for the first time that the hardest part of raising them is designing their habitat to protect them from predators ;p The best thing to do would probably be to put a wire roof over their run AND sink some wire under the ground about a foot around the edges to keep things from digging under. Make sure you use good methods to secure the wire to the posts and such; raccoons can peel back chicken wire if its flimsy and/or only secured with cheap staples.
Other mammalian predators to worry about are rats and skunks. They will often start coming in to go for the eggs, but from there they can start attacking chickens too.
And I’m sure shooting a skunk isn’t a pretty experience.
@Suzie_B: Good grief! At least the geese had a fighting chance taking on a car.
@Suzie_B: Good grief! At least the geese had a fighting chance taking on a car.
I hate raccoons with every fiber of my being. Their cuteness is only matched by the sheer demonic nature of their evil souls. I had a raccoon infestation in my attic for over a year. That was over a year of coon keggers being thrown above my head. Over a year of not sleeping and wondering when the ceiling would finally give way and a raccoon would rip off my face.
Have I mentioned that they’re evil? And they come equipped with power tools and they know how to use them?
You can try relocating them, but the very nice trapper who helped me to finally get rid of them informed me that they instinctively return to the place where they’re born. They return year after year for mating, breeding, and wild kegger throwing.
After two years *knocks on wood* I haven’t had any try and rip their way back into the attic. But if they do, I’ll be tempted to just burn down the house at that point. I will get my vengeance one way or another!
Best of luck to you with the chickens. Be sure to keep your traps set. I’m convinced that raccoons know how to network on the internet and they have probably already communicated your flock’s location.
They do. I intercepted a tweet from @RockyRaccoon that read “Fresh chickens at the Naughton farm!” Another one later read, “I refused to hold still for a clean head shot, so the @#$%er put four rounds into me. Damn, that hurts.”
We saw a car commercial last night featuring cute raccoons. They skipped the part where the raccoons jumped out of the car and tore the heads off some chickens.
In the late sixties and early seventies I lived Ft Greene Brooklyn. We rented a 5 story brownstone for $300 a month. It was a rough area, the polite term is “neighborhood in transition”. Now it is completely gentrified and a distant cousin who is an executive with Whole Foods and married to an MD cannot afford to live there. Anyway a Latin neighbor decided to raise chickens in the backyard and after the third day of “the rooster crowing at the break of dawn” I heard a gunshot and then silence. Someone had shot the bird from their window.
Yee-ikes. For the brief time we had our rooster, I’m pretty sure he didn’t wake any neighbors. He’d need opera-power lungs to do that.
I hate raccoons with every fiber of my being. Their cuteness is only matched by the sheer demonic nature of their evil souls. I had a raccoon infestation in my attic for over a year. That was over a year of coon keggers being thrown above my head. Over a year of not sleeping and wondering when the ceiling would finally give way and a raccoon would rip off my face.
Have I mentioned that they’re evil? And they come equipped with power tools and they know how to use them?
You can try relocating them, but the very nice trapper who helped me to finally get rid of them informed me that they instinctively return to the place where they’re born. They return year after year for mating, breeding, and wild kegger throwing.
After two years *knocks on wood* I haven’t had any try and rip their way back into the attic. But if they do, I’ll be tempted to just burn down the house at that point. I will get my vengeance one way or another!
Best of luck to you with the chickens. Be sure to keep your traps set. I’m convinced that raccoons know how to network on the internet and they have probably already communicated your flock’s location.
They do. I intercepted a tweet from @RockyRaccoon that read “Fresh chickens at the Naughton farm!” Another one later read, “I refused to hold still for a clean head shot, so the @#$%er put four rounds into me. Damn, that hurts.”
We saw a car commercial last night featuring cute raccoons. They skipped the part where the raccoons jumped out of the car and tore the heads off some chickens.
In the late sixties and early seventies I lived Ft Greene Brooklyn. We rented a 5 story brownstone for $300 a month. It was a rough area, the polite term is “neighborhood in transition”. Now it is completely gentrified and a distant cousin who is an executive with Whole Foods and married to an MD cannot afford to live there. Anyway a Latin neighbor decided to raise chickens in the backyard and after the third day of “the rooster crowing at the break of dawn” I heard a gunshot and then silence. Someone had shot the bird from their window.
Yee-ikes. For the brief time we had our rooster, I’m pretty sure he didn’t wake any neighbors. He’d need opera-power lungs to do that.
I would like to second (third?) the recommendation for the electric fence. But maybe get a game camera first and set it to video mode so you can enjoy the “lesson”. 😉
We have to have an electric fence around our garden because of raccoons. I wouldn’t mind sharing a little with wildlife, but the raccoons destroy the plants in the process of raiding the garden.
Game camera is on the way. It’ll be interesting to see what lurks around the barn at night.
I would like to second (third?) the recommendation for the electric fence. But maybe get a game camera first and set it to video mode so you can enjoy the “lesson”. 😉
We have to have an electric fence around our garden because of raccoons. I wouldn’t mind sharing a little with wildlife, but the raccoons destroy the plants in the process of raiding the garden.
Game camera is on the way. It’ll be interesting to see what lurks around the barn at night.
A bit late, as always, but I love your real life/farm reports. While it is always a struggle to cook for two – one of which really doesn’t buy into my mostly low carb world, much less the paleo world – at least we have in common our enjoyment of your farm-in-progress stories. While my better half still wants his grains and potatoes, he has volunteered to shoot as much of the vermin as you wish, as long as he can eat all the rabbits he can find!
I just watched a lecture by Matt LaLonde in which he compared nutrient density scores of various foods. Raccoon and possum were both high on the nutrient-density scale for meats. So I guess next time I have to shoot one, we should skin it and eat it.
I agree with Suzie_B, lock those chickens up at night! I grew up on a farm and we had a proper chicken house with a roost and areas for the hens to sit and lay eggs. It had a secure door that you opened in the am and closed and locked up at night. During the day they roamed around the farm and went to the coop when it got dark. Locking the chickens up securely keeps them safe from those notorious chicken killers. Also it was a ritual we did every night as kids and now my child does with her grandpa when we are visiting. Good luck keeping them safe. And look on the bright side, living on a farm teaches everyone about the circle of life.
A better, tighter-fitting door is definitely on the agenda.
A bit late, as always, but I love your real life/farm reports. While it is always a struggle to cook for two – one of which really doesn’t buy into my mostly low carb world, much less the paleo world – at least we have in common our enjoyment of your farm-in-progress stories. While my better half still wants his grains and potatoes, he has volunteered to shoot as much of the vermin as you wish, as long as he can eat all the rabbits he can find!
I just watched a lecture by Matt LaLonde in which he compared nutrient density scores of various foods. Raccoon and possum were both high on the nutrient-density scale for meats. So I guess next time I have to shoot one, we should skin it and eat it.
I agree with Suzie_B, lock those chickens up at night! I grew up on a farm and we had a proper chicken house with a roost and areas for the hens to sit and lay eggs. It had a secure door that you opened in the am and closed and locked up at night. During the day they roamed around the farm and went to the coop when it got dark. Locking the chickens up securely keeps them safe from those notorious chicken killers. Also it was a ritual we did every night as kids and now my child does with her grandpa when we are visiting. Good luck keeping them safe. And look on the bright side, living on a farm teaches everyone about the circle of life.
A better, tighter-fitting door is definitely on the agenda.
We have lived on a farm for a little over a year now.
I am learning as you are. Trial and Error.
I commend you for being able to get rid of the predator.
I can carry a gun with me for protection
But I can’t muster enough guts to kill anything
Unless I would be the one under attack.
I have had something killing my chickens for a month
Now. Come to find out, it was my very own barn cats.
So I gather up all my cats in the morning. Put them in a 40x 80 shop
With food and water and litter pan. Lock them in by day.
Let my chickens free range during the day. When they go to the chicken house
In the evening. I shut the gate to their yard.
My chicken house is built up off the ground. The yard for it is fenced in
All the way around, even buried in the ground.
And I have fencing across the top. No intruders to bother them.
But they are in danger on the farm free ranging with my cats about.
I have four donkeys that parole the pasture. I too have a dog I love
Like family. I take care to keep the two species separate.
The donkeys will stomp at the cats as well. So will my horses. The cats know to stay out of their way and so does my dog. I do not have problems with coyotes and I live very far out in the country. If I may lend my advise. I would suggest a donkey or two for protection to your livestock. They are humble sweet creatures but ruthless on coyotes. Get some geese for your chickens to roommate with.
That is my next move. And make your pens as safe as possible for your chickens.
They need a fortress. Hope this helps… P.s. My cats are such good mousers is why I am keeping them around. They hunt everything. Just don’t want them getting my chickens..
I’ve heard that about donkeys, but I’m afraid they’ll mistake my dogs for coyotes.
We have lived on a farm for a little over a year now.
I am learning as you are. Trial and Error.
I commend you for being able to get rid of the predator.
I can carry a gun with me for protection
But I can’t muster enough guts to kill anything
Unless I would be the one under attack.
I have had something killing my chickens for a month
Now. Come to find out, it was my very own barn cats.
So I gather up all my cats in the morning. Put them in a 40x 80 shop
With food and water and litter pan. Lock them in by day.
Let my chickens free range during the day. When they go to the chicken house
In the evening. I shut the gate to their yard.
My chicken house is built up off the ground. The yard for it is fenced in
All the way around, even buried in the ground.
And I have fencing across the top. No intruders to bother them.
But they are in danger on the farm free ranging with my cats about.
I have four donkeys that parole the pasture. I too have a dog I love
Like family. I take care to keep the two species separate.
The donkeys will stomp at the cats as well. So will my horses. The cats know to stay out of their way and so does my dog. I do not have problems with coyotes and I live very far out in the country. If I may lend my advise. I would suggest a donkey or two for protection to your livestock. They are humble sweet creatures but ruthless on coyotes. Get some geese for your chickens to roommate with.
That is my next move. And make your pens as safe as possible for your chickens.
They need a fortress. Hope this helps… P.s. My cats are such good mousers is why I am keeping them around. They hunt everything. Just don’t want them getting my chickens..
I’ve heard that about donkeys, but I’m afraid they’ll mistake my dogs for coyotes.
I have recipe- big dog and cats around farm…they do wonders with common little predators.
I have recipe- big dog and cats around farm…they do wonders with common little predators.