A couple days ago, I woke to this. A bunch of feathers and one missing chicken.
Using my amazing tracking skillz (I use “z” when I’m really serious about something), I surveyed the crime scene, examined the forensic evidence, and took DNA samples.
Well, actually I just walked around a bit and stared at the mess of feathers in my yard. But, ya know, same thing.
After following the trail of feathers all the way to the back of our property and over the back fence, I finally found the dead chicken, or, eh, what was left of it. Not much actually.
Just some wings and believe it or not, 1 fully developed hard shelled egg, and 3 developing egg yolks.
OH no he DIDN’T!
First he murdered my best laying hen and THEN, he had the nerve to ignore these amazing eggs!
Not gonna lie, for a second I contemplated saving those eggs. It was just for a second, okay? I soon realized that would be pretty dang gross considering the bloody situation.
Meanwhile, my surviving chickens are feeling pretty stressed out.
We knew in order to capture this murderer, we needed to conduct a full-scale investigation. Ethan & I started by interviewing the witnesses.
The animals weren’t talking. Seems like the murderer was paying them off. And don’t even tell me that animals can’t talk. I’ve seen this movie (affiliate link). I know what goes down while the farmer’s away.
After consulting some neighbors, we determined the culprit was most likely a COYOTE. Yep, that’s right. A real, live coyote. While I do live in Arizona, I live in the middle of town, hence the “urban farming” label.
What the heck am I supposed to do about a COYOTE?
Lucky for me, I had a bunch of friends (aka all of you) willing to help me out on my facebook page. The advice ranged from getting a guard dog, (or llama, or goose, or donkey) to installing better fencing (I don’t know what’s better than a 6 ft. tall concrete block fence) to shooting that dang coyote with a gun.
I called the local Game & Fish Department. Their advice? We’re not allowed to “hunt” coyotes within city limits, but we are allowed to protect our property, families, & animals, by whatever means necessary.
While I considered just doing nothing and hoping the coyote would just forget about our easy dinner roaming the backyard, I was reminded that I wild animals are closer than I thought…
Yep, that’s a VULTURE. A VULTURE, ya’ll. What is going on here? Is it the end of the world? Should I be doomsday preppin’ or what?
One thing’s for sure. It’s time to get serious about this here farm of mine.
Fluffy, you will be avenged!
Oh my goodness! My whole family just gathered around me & we laughed our way thru the story. It lightened up a day that ended with me googling how to determine if a coyote killed your chicken. Romance Twin #1, you too will be avenged!
I came across this blog while researching the raw milk/asthma link for a friend (I just bought a share in a cow yesterday). We had a coyote attack our chickens in August, in broad daylight! Luckily our son was home at the time, he chased the coyote out of the yard (it dropped our Jenny in the process). Jenny went to our vet for stitches and another chicken was missing. The missing chicken came out of hiding two days later, mauled but healing. Both are fine now, but we always lock the girls in the chicken run when we’re not within eyesight of the back yard. I think our dog had kept coyotes away, but she died in late May. We also have a hawk that comes by occasionally, so I keep an ak47 airsoft gun right by the back door. It won’t kill, but it will deter.
Sorry for your loss. We recently nearly lost our favorite hen to a delivery man’s dog he had with him – let out (without thinking) to use the facilities. I wouldn’t rule out a neighbor’s dog.
IDK where you found the carcass, but a coyote would typically take it somewhere *safe* and *out of sight*; I have witnessed one take a neighbor’s chicken in broad daylight. It ran (mostly uphill!) for well over a half mile to get to a safe area where it could stop and eat it’s prize. A neighboring dog, on the other hand, doesn’t have that instinct to hide out… it is comfortable in its own neighborhood. Just something to chew on (no pun intended).
DaNelle-I had a similar issue but the culprit in my scenario ended up being a BADGER!!! I am now chickenless and will wait until our winter season is over. I live in Western Iowa and our winters have the potential of getting pretty nasty so to save me from dressing in 4 layers of clothing, I will put pencil to paper and design a better coop so when I get my new chickens in 2014, they will be safe. I’m also looking into getting some fainting goats too!!! I can’t wait!!! Love your page!!!
Not sure if you know it or not, but coyotes are very stealthy and dig dens for their homes. I don’t know how much property you have, but I kept seeing comments about the coyote having jumped the fence and thought I’d remind you of the fact they may have come under the fence! I noticed in one of your photos that you have a culvert going under the fence. They can get in that way. They can also have a den under a woodpile, brushpile, or down in the earth with the opening hidden. (I’ve seen them with a den opening under someone’s front steps!) They can be very close and you’d never know it. I know you got a lot of suggestions for animals to keep. Did anyone suggest guineas? They are loud little watchbirds, and are also great bug and snake control. They take very little feed, as they are close to being wild birds and get most of their nutrition through what they catch, grass, etc. They would put up a fuss if something comes in the area, giving you time to “not” hunt the hunter down! Ours are great at giving watch calls to the rest of our animals even when an eagle or hawk fly overhead. Hope this helps! And thanks for the humorous side of a sad (yet all too common) ordeal small farmers deal with everyday.
Oh no! Poor fluffy. 🙁
We have been keeping backyard chickens for 3 years… We had a bobcat jump our fence and kill 3 hens before my husband succumbed to shooting it. We also see lots of coyotes wandering in & around our property, but so far, have never had one attempt to jump the fence…
p.s. Poor Fluffy. She was a lovely hen, it’s clear to see.
I’ve been around the block (and back) a few times, on the subject of varmints intended on killing my chickens. I’ve learned a thing or two. I write a blog and I wrote an entire series on a formidable varmint that bedeviled my chicken flock (to the tune of about a dozen dead hens, all told), that we dubbed the “Dreaded Varmint.” If you have time to check it out, you’ll find out all that we learned last summer about predator control. You could start it right here: https://vomitingchicken.com/the-dreaded-varmint-day-one/
Thanks!
I love your stories, but I am sorry for your loss. I keep chickens, live in the country in MT, and we have skunk issues. Every year they start stealing eggs around June or July. I will catch one in the coop (literally with egg on her face) and tell her politely it’s time to go. They are usually respectful at that point and scurry on out to a new hole in the fence that seems to appear out of nowhere. We’ve never had issues with them other than being egg thieves. This year, however, the skunk decided the eggs weren’t enough and she started stealing my chickens. She would sneak in there right at dusk when they were just settling down and I hadn’t shut their door yet. Sometimes it happened when we stayed in town too long doing some socializing with actual people. I wrestled with this problem because up until now we have never had to kill anything wild out here. There is a den of foxes in a hill only a few acres away and they have (thankfully) always respected our space. So this was very traumatizing for me because skunks are actually very cute and innocent looking. After losing a third chicken to the cute evil creature, I bit the bullet and bought a trap. I don’t own a gun, so my options were limited. I thought seriously about relocating the skunk, but then I really didn’t want to put her in my new Subaru. I enlisted the help of my old farmer neighbor. She came over and shot the skunk the next day. I am thankful for her help, even if it is mixed with some guilt. Sometimes you just have to claim your space. We haven’t had any trouble since, so I’m hoping that’s the end of that. Best wishes to you, and may your piles of feathers be few (because piles of feathers never means anything good unless you are processing.)
I know what you mean! Our biggest problem is possums. I hate to kill them, but have had to in the past. The last time, we found a bunch of babies when we went to bury the thief. They crawled out of what turned out to be their mother’s pouch. We felt so badly for them! We ended up bottle feeding them and gave them to someone who rehabilitates wildlife. So now we probably have the offspring’s offspring to deal with now, but we just couldn’t harm those poor little babies!
My family recently lost a Black Australorp hen to a coyote. I feel ya sister.
Sorry about your chicken. I’ve just started keeping chickens & I know I may have to face this one day. NOT looking forward to losing any of my birds ever but know it could happen.
Just going to do everything in my power to prevent it & keep ’em safe.
They don’t make it easy. Two prefer to roost in a nearby cherry tree instead of the coop.
Have to “put them to bed” myself every night right now. I’m HOPING they’ll soon get the idea the coop IS a safer place. Tired of climbing the dang cherry tree after them!
Oh, she’s was such a pretty birdie! Rest in peace, Fluffy.
Hope that coyote problem is solved for you soon!