Ameraucana Forum
The Official Ameraucana Forum => Housing, Health & Hatching => Topic started by: John W Blehm on July 01, 2018, 11:53:25 AM
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Over the years I've had problems with just about every predator I can think of in this area. I haven't had many problems though in about the last 20 years. Now something is getting some birds and I haven't found out yet what it is. I'll probably set out my trail cam and see if I can get a photo. I have a couple live traps near the pens. I leave them out all the time, but I'll add some bait.
It appears that the birds are pulled thru 2" by 4" welded wire. A coon was my 1st thought, but a few have been pulled thru 3 to 4 feet from the ground...it looks that way anyway. Feathers are stuck all around the 2x4 wire opening, but the wires aren't spread open. Maybe just growing birds that aren't very big are getting caught and the remains of some birds wereabout 20 feet away.
Have any of you seen this before?
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Looks like a raccoon to me. Climbing up and taking them from the roost.
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Looks like a raccoon to me. Climbing up and taking them from the roost.
The problem I'm having is trying to imagine them reaching that far. Note the spot close to the middle of the door is not near the ground or any roost. Also these others are about 20 inches from a roost. Some were close to the ground and those seem obvious, but there really long reaches don't seem possible.
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I think I would fasten some chicken wire to the outside of the 2" by 4" welded wire. That should stop them.
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Pulling them through at that height is a bit puzzling. A raccoon , at that height, would only be able to pull something dead and would've had to been passed up from the ground. Which isn't possible from the outside of the pen because of the safety barrier. So if a coon is the culprit it would have had to of gotten inside the pen to do so. I've seen juveniles get their heads stuck in chain link fences before, so it could be possible for a young raccoon to slip through a 2x4in welded wire, but would have to go head first. Sooo, I would say a single raccoon would not be able to do this alone. All this being said, the same would go for a opossum. So, the trapper heritage in me is almost certain you very well could have a mink or weasel being your thief. And those are the devil to catch, but possible.
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My first thought was mink or weasel too. Never had an incident with them here but I had someone buy birds me a few years ago that contacted me this year to ask what I thought might have gotten into his set up. Very similar to yours. He caught it the very next night. Can't remember which but it was either a mink or a weasel. Good-sized one too. Only difference was it slaughtered all his birds. Ate the heads off or at least chewed on them a bit & did try to pull a couple thru the fence.
Ironic you should post this today. I pulled another one of my boneheaded moves last night. I had a pair of really nice pair of Forrest Beauford Black Langshans and a nice pair of Paul Clevenger Buff Orpingtons left and decided to breed them to get some more before I lost them. So I put the two girls in a pen about 3wks ago to clean out. I've been pulling the guys out & putting them in a showcage to do their business when I'm outside on the weekends.
Last night I put them out I got home from the feedstore & went ahead and did my rounds early. It was misting heavily & I thought I'd get my rounds done before it rained. Well, I wound up getting pretty soaked anyways as it started to drizzle. Finished up after dark, moved the truck, & came in to get outta my wet duds. It was about 0700 this morning when I remembered I forgot to get the birds outta the showcage & put 'em up for the night.
Yup, you guessed it. Nothing but a trail of feathers this morning. Talk about a boneheaded move!
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Sorry to hear that Royce. I remember the term Clevenger Orpingtons from at least 30-35 years ago, but I think he was before my time. I did meet the late Forrest Beauford one time, as he judged a show about 1.5 hours from me. I hope you got eggs to hatch from those two hens before you lost them.
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John it may very well be a sparrow hawk getting in and killing your birds. Last year I had trouble with one and saw first hand it fit through 2x4 welded wire. I caught it in the pen on the ground chasing my young birds, unfortunately it escaped through the back of the pen as I was coming through the door on the front. My current battle is with a darn fox as of late. It happened to get two brown red youngsters today, must be feeding pups. I say that because I caught it coming back again about 3 hours later, this time I had the 22 ready. I don't think it will be back tomorrow ;)
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Thanks Mike. I got like a half dozen or so eggs from the Langshan & maybe 3-4 from the BO. I never did see either male cover the girls but I'm hoping for the best.
I'm still frustrated and disgusted to no end with myself. I've lost plenty of birds in the past to predators but the idea of those birds being taken that way is just too disturbing. Imagine a pair birds that size in a show cage and then just sitting there like sitting ducks. I get the imagine of being in a house on Halloween with Jason & his hockey mask peering in a window before taking a chainsaw to break in. Still bugs me!
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I still have no idea how something pulled or pushed the chickens thru the 2 by 4 wire...no where near the ground or a roost, but I did set out the trail cam and got photos of both a opossum and racoon last night. RIP
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I'd go with the possum. They actually look much bigger than they are. I take it ya got 'em both? I don't imagine the pelts are in much shape this time of year. I've got several coons and a couple of coyotes on my wall bit no possums. Shot one with the bow many years ago and skinned it out but can't for the life of me remember now what happened to it.
You ever eat possum? That's the only animal I've ever killed that I planned to eat and after skinning it just couldn't bring myself to do it. I'd probably try it if somebody else cooked it up but dang they are a nasty looking creature!
Coon is pretty good though.
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Well looks like I also had a George Jones pestering my grow outs >:(. Apparently he doesn’t know the girl that lives here because if he did he would’ve steered clear. Royce believe it or not my daughter killed one I believe 2 winters ago while out adventuring with her B.B. gun. Our rules are if you kill it, you have to eat it. So at 13 she skinned her fist opossum, my poor dear wife actually found a pretty good recipe off Pinterest I believe. She wrapped it in bacon and surrounded it with apples and I hate to admit it but it actually tasted good. To me it tasted just about like duck, all dark meat and if you got past what you were eating it was fairly decent :o
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Russ, I thought for sure you were going to say you put all that on a pine board, bake it at 350 for an hour, take it out, chuck everything in the garbage & eat the board! :P
I've actually heard folks talk about cooking ducks similar to that. I'm not a wild duck fan. Not a big fan of domestic ducks either but the Pekins ain't bad.
All that said, I sure hope y'all don't shoot a coyote! If'n ya do though, let me know how that turns out! I suggest using LOTS of bacon and apples. :P ;D
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Looks like it was back in December 2016 ;D
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...I take it ya got 'em both?...
Yes and both are going to the landfill. I've never been one to try new foods and pretty much stick with just what I know I like...like pizza! Years ago when I worked a the local Chevrolet foundry guys would bring in different wildlife and cook it, but I didn't get in on those dinners. ???
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I'm betting on the possum.
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Well looks like I also had a George Jones pestering my grow outs >:(. Apparently he doesn’t know the girl that lives here because if he did he would’ve steered clear. Royce believe it or not my daughter killed one I believe 2 winters ago while out adventuring with her B.B. gun. Our rules are if you kill it, you have to eat it. So at 13 she skinned her fist opossum, my poor dear wife actually found a pretty good recipe off Pinterest I believe. She wrapped it in bacon and surrounded it with apples and I hate to admit it but it actually tasted good. To me it tasted just about like duck, all dark meat and if you got past what you were eating it was fairly decent :o
I have given several coon and possum to folks who still eat them and get quite excited when one is available. I have heard some people will pay for the critters :D , but have not found those buyers myself. :(
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Hello,
We just had this problem too, and three other customers of mine, all within this late summer timeframe. Ours was the long-tail weasel. It will get into any hole or crack etc. roughly 3/4†or larger. A family of weasel, 2 adults and up to 6 adult young,moved in after dessimating a flock a mile and a half up the road. They killed 36 of our birds at all heights on roosts and specifically in the nursery that had been boarded up due to previous nights raids. We trapped one, found the nest and shot three others. They seemed to move on after we fortified the coops but the girls have stop laying due to the trauma and loss of life around them.
We were ready for everything except weasels. Hopefully now, upu will be prepared too.
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I'm sorry for your loses. I've had many over the decades, buy I don't think any were caused by weasels. I did catch one (an ermine, aka short-tailed weasel) in a trap one winter. It was inside a shed that included my chicken coop at the time. It was pure white with a black tail. The late Jeanne Trent, from northern Michigan, lost many birds to ermine. Harry Shaffer, in PA, has also had experience with weasels.
As predator proof as my coops and pens are I've always figured a weasel or ermine could get in and do some damage, but I've been lucky.
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Sorry for your loss, Dana. There's a post from a month or two ago on here somewhere that I made where I posted a pic of the varmint that slaughtered 40 of my grow outs. Of course, I had just sold 40 cockerels the week before so, wouldn't ya know it, most of the ones the mink got were pullets.
This is my 11th year on the place and, like John, I always knew it was probably only a matter of time before a mink, weasel, or such migrated in to the place. I was pretty disgusted at the time but time has a way of easing that away and when I have days like today where I can take the time to look out over the property, gaze upon Three Fingers out my picture window, listen to the chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, peafowl and other critters, I realize just how blessed I am and remember that it's all part of living the life I have.
Do I ever think about hanging this all up and moving to some Development on a cul-de-sac with a 5x5' front yard and I can shake hands with the neighbor outta the window? NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ::)
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Royce, what is Three Fingers? Got a photo to share?
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Royce, what is Three Fingers? Got a photo to share?
I was thinking it is a bay (water), so I looked it up...
Three Fingers (Washington) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Fingers_(Washington))
2nd photo (https://www.summitpost.org/three-fingers-west-face/243070)
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Wow that's an impressive view
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Those a good pics but a little closer view than what I have. I thought I had some pics I could post but evidently I deleted or lost them somehow. There's a video on my FB profile that shows several of the ones I was looking for though. Here's a couple I did find. The first is the first day of a fire last year. The second a couple days later.
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Oh my, you do have a lovely view! :)