Homesteading can be a real kick in the nuts sometimes and today was one of those days.
Every morning I have to harvest the summer squash from the different gardens and this morning I had finished the main garden and was on my way to the other squash garden when I saw chickens out of the yard and feathers on the ground in the chicken's yard. After chasing all the escapees back in I went into the yard and found these piles of hen feathers, but no bodies.
I knew some shit had gone down and then I found the turkeys. The 3 of them were within 10 feet of each other. Each had been killed in a different area of its body with one having only the neck ripped out. My stomach was in knots and I was looking for the other 2 turkeys.
As I searched around the yard I found this, the spot the villain entered the yard. It had dug under the log until it could pull the log back as it fell into the hole. This is the only spot under the fence I could find. I checked the soil both inside and out but the foot prints were very indistinct and dusted over so I couldn't tell what it is.
I turned uphill and saw feathers leading up the trail. I followed the trail to the fence line finding more feathers along the way and then another entry point under the fence.
I checked the ground all around the entry point but found no discernible tracks, so I continued hiking up the hillside. Nearing the top of the hill and still in the animal pen I came upon the 4th turkey, or what was left of it.
Right near the pieces of the 4th turkey was this entry point which is quite near the top of the hill. I checked the soil and still could not find any quality tracks to determine the predator.
At this point I went the short distance to the base of the tree of the Bald Eagle's nest to check for pieces or parts of the chickens and turkeys. Not a single thing was anywhere under their nest and nearby trees, other than older bones (that will be another post). This allayed my rising fears that the Bald Eagle's had decided to take my birds.
I hiked down the hill and put the turkey carcasses into the wheel barrow to haul them off to my dump spot.
I had put the turkeys in the wheel barrow when I finally noticed that the 2 chicks that a hen had hatched were floating with no mom around. THAT was the white hen that got eaten..... DAMN IT!!!!
So that meant I needed to first catch them, which was not super hard, but trying not to step on them while trying to catch them IS the hard part. I caught them both, set them in the bottom of an empty 55 gallon drum and got their hut prepared. I laid down fresh bedding, filled the water, and filled the feeder with crumble. They are now in the hut and get to interact with the other chickens through the plastic fencing on the front.
Once I had finished taking care of my new charges I took the carcasses and dumped them off the edge for the animals to have at.
SUCH A DAMNED WASTE!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!
So now I had to set my trap for whatever this thing is. I have a Hava-hart trap and it actually worked out to place it. I set 4 eggs in the very back corner and have the trap locked in place side to side. It has a slight drop off on the back side so that if the thing enters the trap, if it walks to the back, it will tip the cage back slightly and trip the door. These 2 things I hope will ensure the damn varmint is caught. I want to know what has done this, and a little retribution could be possible.
After setting the trap I went to pick beans in the garden, that's when I found the carcass of the fifth turkey, in the chicken yard, along a fence line. So yeah, tomorrow will tell if I can catch anything.
And so goes a day in my life of homesteading. I started out the day in a good mood and upbeat after having my post featured in Weekly Homesteading Newsletter (WHN) - Issue #6 and was off harvesting, then this chasm opened up. I am not sure if it is a good thing or not, but I feel like I am getting desensitized to the loss. It seems to be perpetual and constant. I go through periods with healthy and live animals, then some shit happens and I lose one or some.
I have been at the breaking point on a few occasions, literally verging on just getting rid of all of them, but then I calm down and just continue on. Maybe I am pig headed, ignorant, or just determined, but I keep going and trying, and failing. But I do succeed some and those successes seem to be enough to keep the drive going and keep me working.
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Homesteading certainly teaches us the cycle of life. I am so sorry for the loss of your animals. Yes a Damn waste.
Exactly, it is the cycle of life. Even for myself who has always had a more pragmatic view of death, it has taken me quite a while to, I guess come to terms with the actuality of the cycle and the experience of it.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Yes homesteading can kick you in the teeth now and then. It's part of the journey and it always makes me respect what the pioneers went through and am grateful to them for enduring incredible hardships to help establish our great country. We lost our batch of fryer chicks to a predator this summer so I can emphasize with you. Hang in there it is definitely worth all the hard work and pain.
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Thank you. It is an unfortunate part of homesteading but one that we all must at least be aware of. The first few times this happened to me it hurt my soul far more than now. While I am guessing that this was coons, I'm hoping it wasn't skunks. My presumption is that it is something larger since the turkeys were ALL killed. I hope to have something in my trap as well!
Wow that brutal, it like taking two steps forward and three back, we have had out issue here but not like what you are having. I would not say you are pigheaded, just determined to survive! Let us know if you catch the culprit!
The 3 steps back is appropriate. The turkeys were 1 year old and large enough to butcher, so all that feed and time and now we were getting eggs from them. Just sucks.
Nothing in the trap last night so I am going to expand my traps to other fence lines/holes and cover more of my bases.
We had successes mixing Golden Marlin with Rootbeer and leaving it out, just make sure your cats and dogs can't get to it, work real fast and the racoons love it
Very interesting. I have a glimmer of a memory about coons and rootbeer, something about the sweet they loved? But I will keep it in mind for sure. Tonight I will have traps up the hill at the entrance holes with some nice tender morsels of turkey flesh to entice them.
Good luck!
I am so sorry for your loss. I've had many of those days myself, and it's heartbreaking, and infuriating and usually leaves me with a sense of "Why do I even bother trying?" Best of luck to you in capturing the culprit.
That's the part that gets to me more so afterward, the feeling of why do I bother. It is a natural reaction I'm pretty sure though, at least I like to think so as a bit of solace.
I was going to say a fox, probably a female teaching her babies to hunt before winter. We've had birds of prey hit us before, but they carry the victims to the trees to eat in peace. It's soooo frustrating and Im so sorry you had to wake up to that! I know nature has to be nature, but we are part of nature too. Do what you gotta do.....
Nature seems to always find a way, just that I had it sufficiently locked out, or so I thought. No accounting for determination and sharp claws though. We have a variety of fauna around: raccoon, skunk, fox, coyote, porcupine, cougar, birds of prey, and I think badgers. The limited amount of the tracks that were visible lean in a smaller foot size so fox vary well may be it.
So sorry for the loss of all of your birds. We really want you to catch that varmit that killed them. Hard to lose so many and not give up. Hang in there with us all as we face similar problems and learn from each other. Best wishes! 🐓🐓
That is one thing that I always try to remember, I am not alone in these issues. Many people go through these same sort of situations and persevere.
It is honest hard work, but never easy. 🐓🐓
My deepest sympathies for your losses.
I console myself that at least some thing got a meal out of it, when this is true.
We now have a memorial garden for the bodies of those who were just killed and left and we pray for them by name every morning.
"SUCH A DAMNED WASTE!!!!!!!! ARGH!!!"
Thank you. I put out the carcasses so the animals and birds can have at them. At least they get the nutrition from it.
So not SUCH A DAMNED WASTE
But it sure does hurt and it left me stunned by the loss.
I can completely feel the pain you are going through. Just 2 years ago, we had built up our flock of chickens to around 700. We had over 400 mature egg layers, laying beautiful large eggs every day. We also had 300 new broilers we were raising to put into the freezer and some of them we were raising for others. Then, almost two years ago exactly, we had a wildfire in our area that last for weeks. We were very blessed to have not lost our home or outbuildings, but we lost all but about 75 egg layers and 7 broilers. Even evacuated about 450, but the move was too much stress and we lost them. The ones that lived thru the fire, never laid again, and we lost most of them that winter to starving predators. It'll be tuff getting hit like you have, but it does get better. Learn how it happened and prepare for it better next time. We do this all the time. Constantly changing setups to work better for us in the future. Good luck. Check me out @myhomesteaded.
WOH! I remember the fire, 2 years ago was not good for the entire Inland NW. That is pure unadulterated tragedy losing that many birds. Thank you for the perspective! Good grief, 700 birds...
It really was a low blow. It hurt for a long time. We went from 110-180 dozen eggs a week to nada. That's a lot of time, effort and money just gone. It wasn't until this year we finally started getting more animals. I knew if I had moved back to Texas I would regret it down the road, so we stuck it out, took our time recovering, and now we have about 3 dozen chickens and a few sheep. Good luck!
resteemed!
I'm so sorry for your loss
The farm will always be a great place to take pictures! Great job!
Thats terrible, so sorry. I really want to know who the culprate is, please let us know!
Thanks. I'm curious myself. So far it has evaded me but it was only the first night.
I am so sorry for your loss I too had a terrible loss but it hit home a little closer than I wanted. When the first slaughter happened I assumed it was a wild animal that had gotten my chickens. It was terrible when I found the bodies. When the second slaughter happened I again wanted to believe it was an wild animal. Well a couple of weekends ago I found my dog on top of a chicken it had killed. I was so upset I didnt want to believe it was a chicken killer but all the evidence was their. I disciplined my dog with the hopes that she wouldn't do it again but the very next day I caught her again. I now knew for sure it wasn't a wild animal getting my chickens it was my precious loving dog. I had no choice at this point so with my heart breaking I rehomed her so the slaughters would not happen. I felt so bad and still do I so wish I had known before so I could have stopped the killings sooner. My heart and frustration feels for you. Good luck I hope you find the criter responsible for your killings.
I remember your post not long ago and I'm sorry for the decision you had to make. It is extremely hard to have to rehome your dog, they are usually indoor pets so play such an integral part in our daily lives. It is not something I would deal well with, having to make the decision between the animals and the pet.
There is something about the kill instinct that has a way of manifesting in random dogs. So many dogs are able to maintain, but some get the switch flipped and it seems impossible to turn it off. I'm sure it's possible but it doesn't seem like it in the moment.
I am beginning to think this was a "drive by" and they may not return, since now I 'm ready for em....
I feel your pain...we've gone through a slaughter or two of our chickens, even a piglet or two as well. :(
Its never fun but its worth it in the end. :D
Heartbreaking. I've been through it too, even the wanting to give it all up, but I just keep going. And I am always glad I did. Just a few thoughts, an eagle would most likely have taken the birds and flown off, not rip them up and leave the carcass. Also given that you found a hole dug under the fence, I'd say a ground predator is the likely culprit. You might want to extend your fence several inches, or even a foot or two, underground. Or you can add a "C" of chicken wire to the top and bottom of your existing fence. Attach the middle of a length of the wire to your fence, the shape the top and bottom of the chicken wire into a C, anything climbing over the fence will land on a very unstable surface and most likely choose not to continue. Anything burrowing under will bump its head on the wire overhead and hopefully be discouraged. Stay strong and let us know what you find out.
My soil is quite full of larger rocks and they are along most of the chicken's fence line, but this one spot.... Of course the smart buggers ran the fence until they found the weakness. I have thought of adding height to the fence or the over hang but I have not had anything climbing the fence, just now burrowing under in the one spot.
So Very SORRY! I know all about that kind of predator attack! It really sucks having your hard work destroyed and to lose an animal is horrible! I am so sorry!!!
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Thank you very much!