NH Homesteader's journal

[baymule]

I know predators have to eat, but not YOUR chickens!

 

[Mini Horses]

Know the feeling and hate it! Sorry to hear. I had some losses to a bald eagle early this year. I love the eagle but dang, my hens didn't need to be his meal. Rarely see them this area as they usually hang about 10 miles back. No issues after he left. I have had possum losses before....they do NOT come back if I trap them. The night lock up can be a pain sometimes but, works.

When molt time....geesh, I spend a LOT of time counting heads...about 60 of them. Feathers everywhere with free range.

 

[NH Homesteader]

We do lock them up at night, they were taken during the early morning hours.

We think it's a fox. Our friend down the road has been having fox issues lately and we are pretty close as the crow flies. They're also more likely than a coyote to hunt in the daytime. I hope it's not coyotes or I will be worried about the goats! Losing chickens stinks, but losing goats would be tragic!

 

[Mini Horses]

Yes, fox love daybreak & dusk. The leave a few feathers at attck, often carry entire bird to den. But, I have found result of a feast several hundred feet away.

 

[NH Homesteader]

My husband usually takes the dogs out early and opens the coop, but today we opened it late. They were both taken fairly close to the woods and I'm not trekking through the tick haven to see about finding remains! We might set out a trap but I doubt we'll have much luck. The only other creature we've had issues with in the past was a fisher. They're nasty things, and I saw one in my yard at 9 am one day. Not a good feeling!

 

[sumi]

Sorry to hear about your losses! I've not lost any birds to predators in a long while, before I lost a hen a few weeks ago in the early hours of the morning. No idea what it was, or how it scaled the wall, but it did Sucks to lose a bird that way and then the worry of not knowing what it was too. I hope your critter will leave the rest of the flock and your livestock alone now.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Sorry about your hen Sumi! I'm hoping our predator stays away but it will most likely have to be forced to stay away.

So... Side note, watching fireworks with 4 year old is super fun. Trying to get them to wind down and go to bed after... Way less fun. Fortunately we get to watch them from my parents' front deck, so we get to avoid the crowds. My dog even watched the show! (theirs cowered in the tv room with the white noise machine cranked up)

 

[NH Homesteader]

Ah just glanced out the front window and there was a giant moose in our front yard! So cool! I love moose. Cutest, most awkward creatures (cute from afar, but dangerous up close). Also, they taste pretty good! Lol

We got a new/old fridge DH hooked up for processing and it holds temp no problems. So we should be doing pigs, one at a time, fairly soon. The bigger one is huge, she's so ready!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh how cool! I don't think I'll ever see a moose in my front yard, lol. Good on getting a new/old fridge - let the processing begin!

 

[Mini Horses]

Yesterday I went into the Habitat fund raiser store and saw -- couldn't believe it! -- a meat cooler....made from a frig/freez unit with hooks on a bar to hang carcass and all! It was cold! I wanted to buy and then, caught myself, no pigs now! I don't hunt! chickens fit in my other frig...in garage for milk & eggs, etc. Walked away. Oh, $75. saved.

But congrats on yours!!!!! If I still had pigs, I would have bought the other one.