Who took my chookies ??

[tj]

We have a small chicken coop with three laying hens who provide us with our domestic supply of eggs. A few nights ago, there was a loud commotion and a lot of clucking at around 4am. When I got up two of the chickens were out and all that remained of the other was a pile of feathers. The coop hatch door had been slid open.

Last night I shut the two survivors in their coop for the night having this time fitted a secure latch on to the door. At about 1.00am there was again a loud commotion. With the house security lights switched on, I could see a very large badger walking around, one very scared chicken running around and no sign of the other one bar feathers everywhere.

Very early this morning, I saw a fox sniffing around in the same area.

When I got up to investigate, the coop door had this time been split in two and torn away.

As two suspects namely Mr Brock and Mr Brush were spotted at the scene of the crime, I would welcome the forum's expert opinions on who the culprit is likely to have been.

[Deleted]

My money'd be on the badger.

[nickfr]

badgers dont eat meat , but it could be a 2 legged fox

[Deleted]

www.badgerecology.org/BEdiet.htm

and

www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/fsheets/22_09_02/fsheetsq8.shtml

snips;

Eric Robson: That will do no good whatsoever, badgers will just rip through that. One of their favourite delicacies is hens, and they can easily rip through chicken wire. My grandfather once found a badger in his hen run, and while they were trying to get it out it went for a spade, and it actually left teeth marks in the garden spade!

GQT listener Hugh O'Connell writes: "The best way to keep out badgers is to use a sheet of strong galvanized iron - they can't get their teeth into it, or puncture it with their claws. Put the sheet into the run on the hedge line. Badgers can easily cut all types of wire netting, pig, sheep or chainlink fencing, with their claws."

Another listener, Pat Banks, remarks: "It's rare for badgers to take hedgehogs or hens, they prefer to scoop up worms and beetles. However they can't resist the leatherjackets etc which lurk under the lawn, but this suggests the lawn is not in very good shape. Badgers are opportunistic and will take weak or sick hedgehogs and if there's an easy way into a hen house they'll take advantage of that, too."

[welshdairyfarmer]

It's almost definitely the work of Mr Brock, as I doubt a fox would be powerful enough to have broken in to the hut like that. Our neighbour had a badger to break into his coop as well and he actually caught him running away; so my money is on the badger.

[oxenboy]

I would think it was the fox,they have young cubs to feed and get very determined to do it We lost five hens a couple of weeks ago, even saw the vixen with one in her mouth, by the time I had to got the gun cabinet open, found some cartridges and decided which way the safety catch went B vixen was legging it over the fence, gave her a scare with a shot ,if I cant kill them dont aim at them, proberbly a bit daft

OH has given orders to make a safe run, will obey

[oxenboy]

Help! Have just contradicted two females

[Deleted]

What you need is a mains electric fencer with high tensile wire 10 inches from the floor a knapsack with roundup in, put it around the coup, kill grass underneath and bobs your uncle its the only thing to stop your friends.

[Deleted]

Jun 2, 2009 19:59:45 GMT oxenboy said:

Help! Have just contradicted two females

oh you should be afraid, very afraid... glad to read that you're going to obey the 3rd one though

[stockslave]

My money is on Brock for the break in and on Brush going along for the ride in the hope that Brock will provide a beggars banquet for both of them. Foxes are opportunists if they see an easy meal they'll take it.

[tj]

I reckon it was the badger.
When he got into the coop the first night, he could have easily killed all three, but he only took one. In his second strike he did the same.
It would have taken some clawing and biting to get the door off and I think the badger is probably better equipped to do this.
There do seem to be an increasing number of foxes and badgers around these days, and a rural village such as ours provides a rich hunting ground for predators, with the amount of pet rabbits, chickens etc that are around.

For rearers of chickens, perhaps this is not a bad thing. The owner of a local smallholding I know sells around a hundred per week for pets. They also supply the accessories, coops, feeders etc. At around £12 per bird plus the extras, a nice little earner.

Maybe Mr Brock and Mr Brush are partners in the business !!

[rgsp]

Jun 2, 2009 19:19:36 GMT @nickfr said:

badgers dont eat meat

Oh yes they do...
and they're specially partial to nests of newly hatched skylark chicks so conveniently placed in the skylark strips which make it so much easier for the badger to find them.

Most foxes are very little bigger than a big tomcat, ~5 kg for females and ~6 kg for males, and not all that strong: ripping woodwork apart is a badger thing. Electric fences are the answer: if you install one, look around it on a morning after it's snowed the previous day. I bet there will be fox prints going straight up to the fence, and then turning abruptly to stay a safe couple of feet from it, badger prints too if you do indeed have them.

[davep]

In the days when it wasn't illegal to protect your property I have shot a Badger in the act of killing a duck. It had already had several, in daylight, on successive days and had dug into a wooden doored house and eaten a sitting duck and all its eggs.

[tj]

Got another visit from the predator last night. Went up to the coop with a stick and a torch, saw something running away, I'm sure it was a badger. This morning I noticed that something had been tearing more woodwork away from the coop. Surviving chicken won't go in it tonight, she's roosting in the hedge, a sitting target for Mr Fox.
Why did they ban fox hunting and badger culling ??

[tj]

Jun 5, 2009 20:44:50 GMT tj said:

Got another visit from the predator last night. Went up to the coop with a stick and a torch, saw something running away, I'm sure it was a badger. This morning I noticed that something had been tearing more woodwork away from the coop. Surviving chicken won't go in it tonight, she's roosting in the hedge, a sitting target for Mr Fox.
Why did they ban fox hunting and badger culling ??

The OH now thinks I should lie in wait tonight armed with a large fencing pole. When the culprit turns up I should ambush him, wack him over the head with the pole, then dump him on the side of the main road as 'road kill'.
No doubt this message is being intercepted by GCHQ, so before I get my collar felt on charges of conspiracy to murder a badger, I would say that I was of course only joking.