Author Topic: help (Read 1885 times)

taz08 · « **on:** March 09, 2013, 08:36:44 am »

went out to feed hens this norning,,
4 banties and 3 chicks ( 3 months( have disapeard,, no feathers nothing , just birds missing,,, other birds that were in the coop still here no problem no damage to coop ,,,, what happend do you think

dogs didnt bark at all and the coop is 20 ft away from house

do you think it was man or beast that took them??

Pedwardine · « **Reply #1 on:** March 09, 2013, 09:23:45 am »

We had some of our smaller birds disappear like that. Buzzards were suspected. They could easily lift a bird that size entirely leaving no feather evidence.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #2 on:** March 09, 2013, 09:25:54 am »

The first two we lost to foxes had no feathers left but had been seen being taken. the lock on the nest box cover had been snapped after frost and the fox literally lifted them out. Unusual not to have flurries of feathers though. Could it be a person stealing?

taz08 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 09, 2013, 11:15:37 am »

i think it was A SOMEONE and not a something... been round 3 times and moved everything ,, no trace of anything
not even a feather

Fowlman · « **Reply #4 on:** March 09, 2013, 11:38:01 am »

Sounds like a two legged fox.

sabrina · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2013, 01:27:04 pm »

Pure bred birds do get stolen.

reedos · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2013, 02:20:39 pm »

If there's no sign of a disturbance I'd reckon on it being people, I had a spell last year when one or two vanished every week or so. At first I thought it was a fox - it wasn't! Comfirmation of it being people came when they brought a cockerel back and took his mate!

To cut a very long story short it turned out to be "travellers" who foolishly tried to sell some to my neighbour, we got some but not all of ours back when the police raided the travellers camp.

I'd have preferred it to be the fox actually, at least she'd have been taking for food instead of just because she could.

mojocafa · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2013, 02:42:38 pm »

Sorry to hear that taz, may need to get a wee security camera or two to cover all angles of your land. You can get them reasonably priced now on Internet
M

chrismahon · « **Reply #8 on:** March 10, 2013, 08:49:39 am »

Sounds like theft to me Taz08. We had a major problem in the UK with that and all the coops were locked with the hinges and latches secured with coach bolts. Lids screwed on from the inside. Spent a huge amount of time locking and unlocking stuff. It all started when a neighbour started stealing eggs while we were at work and we had to padlock the nest box lid.

taz08 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 10, 2013, 09:01:19 am »

yea i recon on people ,,, been busy getting someat done so stopit

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #10 on:** March 10, 2013, 09:27:15 am »

Buzzards will happily take anything up to bantam size. Could it be mink? Would expect dogs to bark at humans - mink are much quieter!

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #11 on:** March 10, 2013, 09:34:32 am »

I had a buzzard lift one of my legbars yesterday, luckily I was within a few metres with super-dog (who just looked blankly at me when I tried to let him at 'em) and I chased it off, dropped the hen and all seems ok.