The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: lord flynn on August 10, 2015, 08:00:12 pm
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I feed the chickens using a pheasant spring feeder. A couple of times last year, and more often this year, something comes along in the night, pulls the spring and lets loose kilos of feed. I no longer keep it very full, which is a pain-but less expensive. What could it be though? no tracks, no scat-something big enough to pull down on the spring but thats not interested in the henhouses? I have tried surrounding it with some weld mesh but it pulled the whole thing over :thinking:
I was thinking badger, but not interested in the actual chickens? We had fox tracks about in the snow. I did have something dig into the broody run and go for the feed overnight as well. I am not that bothered-just intrigued!Its not every night.
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It could be a squirrel, they have blummin clever creatures. ::)
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no squirrels in my garden-I'm in the middle of a moor! I do have a treeline, nut no squirrels.
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Deer but then is the feed being eaten and then no tracks
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I had thought of deer-we've had some in the fields next door recently. Feed is sometimes eaten, sometimes lots is left on the ground.
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Badger is my guess. It's a very stealthy deer to leave no tracks!
Wildlife camera! I love mine - about a hundred pounds, but you won't regret it! Mines an acorn something another, but it's camouflage coloured and has a really short trigger time. :thumbsup:
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Would put money on badger! They are big and strong and love layers pellets!
We have one who sneaks up at night and takes any left over feed - seen it, theres no doubt. Never shows any interest in the ducks themselves but we did lose a couple of ducklings earlier in the year in a stable that we hadn't fully secured so more our own fault. May have been a fox. We now take in any left over feed to avoid encouraging them.
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Geographically I would bet on deer, having been to your place it's an easy place for them to access...
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Any wild/feral pigs around?
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Can you borrow a trail cam off anyone?
I had a mystery too the night before last. Something ripped the lid off my nest box (the actual wood was split). All the chickens were present and correct!?!
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I's suspect badger if ripping's involved. Have you seen those claws? It'll be back. A neighbour had a badger rip the side off a really sturdy coop her husband had made - lost 23 hens.
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If you have chicken taking badgers then only a metal lined coop will deter them.
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We thought badger, but there are no scratches on the hut or lid at all!
Strongly suspecting aliens :thinking:
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Badger there too.
How about a line of electric fence screwing onto the coop? I bought a little energiser that works off two D cell batteries. They last for months. It's Called a shrike, was about £50. It gives quite a kick in a short fence and D cell batteries aren't so intimidating as charging car batteries.
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Thanks Steph Hen- I'll pop one in my Christmas list!
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Any wild/feral pigs around?
not as far as I know!
I really feel the spring is sometimes being yanked-you need to pull it down and keep hold of it to release that much food-just knocking it doesn't have the same effect. Which kind of rules out deer I'd have thought.
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I think we need a communal trail-cam that we can hire out between ourselves for a few weeks at a time. I'd love to give one a shot for similar reasons, but I can't justify £100+ just to satisfy my curiosity!
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I think we need a communal trail-cam that we can hire out between ourselves for a few weeks at a time. I'd love to give one a shot for similar reasons, but I can't justify £100+ just to satisfy my curiosity!
That would be pretty cool :) Maybe a way to get a tiny bit of income for the site too?
[member=1]Dan[/member] could this work?