Post by brigitte on Sept 23, 2017 9:47:05 GMT -5
The photo wouldn't be telling- but here are the pieces of this puzzle
110 pullets in the eggmobile yesterday, and 109 when they came out. Once in a while one or two will roost on the running gear and not go in and I stupidly didn't check last night for stragglers because I was in a hurry.
But...this morning I found a beautiful, healthy big buff orphington pullet dead right next to the wheel of the running gear to the movable house.
There is a premier 1 fence around the house, charged with a solar charger that works well on sunny days but has much less of a charge overnight and on cloudy days
It would be hard for a raccoon to find its way underneath then figure out the folded over portion on the bottom and go back out- and the dead chicken wasn't near the fence as if something had killed it and tried to make off with it.
It's possible a coyote could have launched over the fence, but wouldn't it have made off with its prey the same way? The coyotes haven't been near since I last shot at them. Don't think it was that.
Not a weasle as it would have wiped out 25 meat birds first (yikes, ready to go in the morning) no snakes. Fox? would have tried for a take out lunch and not left it?
The fence has been a deterent of sorts- so my best guess is a predatorial bird- during the day. Either that or a raccoon that managed to climb a small apple tree and drop down behind the fence- still wouldnt it have tried to make off with it.
Not much sign of the chicken being eaten and I don't think the other chickens beat up on it- it was one of the bigger pullets. There were feathers missing and in the area of what must have been where it was attacked- not quite in the open.
Argh. gotta figure this out.
Ideas?
110 pullets in the eggmobile yesterday, and 109 when they came out. Once in a while one or two will roost on the running gear and not go in and I stupidly didn't check last night for stragglers because I was in a hurry.
But...this morning I found a beautiful, healthy big buff orphington pullet dead right next to the wheel of the running gear to the movable house.
There is a premier 1 fence around the house, charged with a solar charger that works well on sunny days but has much less of a charge overnight and on cloudy days
It would be hard for a raccoon to find its way underneath then figure out the folded over portion on the bottom and go back out- and the dead chicken wasn't near the fence as if something had killed it and tried to make off with it.
It's possible a coyote could have launched over the fence, but wouldn't it have made off with its prey the same way? The coyotes haven't been near since I last shot at them. Don't think it was that.
Not a weasle as it would have wiped out 25 meat birds first (yikes, ready to go in the morning) no snakes. Fox? would have tried for a take out lunch and not left it?
The fence has been a deterent of sorts- so my best guess is a predatorial bird- during the day. Either that or a raccoon that managed to climb a small apple tree and drop down behind the fence- still wouldnt it have tried to make off with it.
Not much sign of the chicken being eaten and I don't think the other chickens beat up on it- it was one of the bigger pullets. There were feathers missing and in the area of what must have been where it was attacked- not quite in the open.
Argh. gotta figure this out.
Ideas?