my flocks...

[WLLady]

Al i'm so sorry to hear. I have leghorns in the incubator right now and will have a pile more in the summer sometime-they're light brown leghorns if you want a few chicks-and remember i have some of your RIR lines...I will likely be passing the adults to cayle later in the summer, but will also be hatching again off them....just let me know. i'll be also doing some breedings to restart new welbar lines this year and will be making some black sex linked girls-believe it or not, i need the BOYS from the sex linked breeding to cross back to the welsummers, so will likely have black sex links (welsummer x barred rock) but not till later in the summer.

to have lost some 20 pound birds i would suspect coyote-dog cross of some type....or a marten or a fisher. i'm not sure a weasel would do it, unless it scared them out and then something else got them.

[TomK]

I am not looking to be rehomed although if I get too many more chickens MJ might have something to say about that...

[Colleen Kinzie]

Sorry for all your losses Al
If it’s not the ground critters around here after the chickens it’s the overhead predators
We have a red tailed hawk right across the road nesting. We watch it from our chairs in the living room
Would just love to SSS as Ross says. But....
So needless to say my chickens are only free range in their covered run
I have a few mutt chicks 6 right now if you are interested

[Ontario Chick]

I am so sorry Al for so many losses in your flock Discouraging to say the least and can understand you may be at a cross road to continue, have been there myself a couple times. For me the thought of having to purchase store bought eggs stopped me, the extra cockerels that are raised are a bonus for the freezer and just the enjoyment I get from them.

I am sure you will make the right decision for you and your family as Happy mentioned.

My sentiments exactly.
Even with our Fort Knox set up, we have lost birds occasionally, five years ago with visitors in the backyard with total of 5 dogs on a sunny Sunday afternoon fox picked up a chicken.
Last year I watched an owl swoop up from a hen it just killed not 100 feet away from me shooing the chickens in the barn at 4pm.
What I am trying to say, it happens sometime, but after your big loses you are vise to re-think.
The problem is to find a balance in what we want, and what we can actually effectively look after,
(I may be talking to myself now) never an easy decision.

[kenya]

Ah sorry to hear this, all those beautiful RIR's what a loss, heartbreaking for sure.

[BobG]

Al sorry for your loss buddy . If your ever in the position to start again with Reds let me know I will help you out anytime

[thegawd]

Thanks so much everyone! especially you Bob! you have helped me out SOOO much with the REDS that I could never repay you! thank you so much my friend! I definitely want to get back into the Reds! they are by for the best bird there ever was!

The reds were in the RV trailer coop along with the chanteclars, I thought it was very secure but obviously not secure enough to keep out a weasel...

Ya I dont know what killed the toms but it sure wasnt a coon or a dog or anything like that, they were killed on the roost at night, there heads were bloody but not chewed off... no idea. this coop is not totally secure, anything could have gotten in except any canines unless they can climb a fence???...

oh shoot I wonder if maybe I overlooked the predator and my dog couldnt find it because it may have been a cat! around the same time a new cat showed up around here, he was only a few months old and very nice but has one of the craziest killer instincts that i have ever seen in a domesticated house cat. he dosent play with items... he tries to kill them. OMGoodness! it so could have been him and my dog would never have picked up on the scent because she dosent perceive them as a threat or a predator. they are friends. Alas I will never know for sure...

Kathy, you are the only person that I gave reds to... I would love to get some back from you and maybe we could set something up. let me think about this for a bit though because I still need to make some changes in the coops. I sure would also like some LB leghorns, the are such nice birds.

Well I gotta get some stuff done... taker easy guys!

[ross]

Sounds like you figured it out my friend . Nice kitty

[Skinny rooster]

I remember that helpless feeling when a weasel kept getting into my barn. What a loss, not just your beautiful birds but the genetics as well. Weasels come in all sizes don't forget, from short tail weasel the size of a hotdog wiener up to Fisher the size of a coon. In between you have regular weasel, pine Martin, mink. I think a mink could kill a turkey, damaged head or neck sounds more like it. I can't see a cat taking on a Tom turkey, especially if there was a high fence to get over.

Anyway, take a break if you need to, I agree with Ross, good mutts equal less stress. I am really enjoying my little mutts more than any breed I kept lately. Good luck in what ever you decide to do Al.

[WLLady]

I'll be hatching again in late may/early june Al, i'll throw some eggs into the bator for you - reds and leghorns.
yeah, i'm with ross there....on the roost likely that kitty. bad kitty....sigh.
i could see a bigger cat going after a turkey-in fact i have witnessed it at my place, but it was daylight and the cat did get chased off by a very angry poultry owner and a black lab, and ironically, one of my cats also took off after it and caught up with it half way across the field. i haven't seen it since.