Every Single Chicken Was Killed.... (And it is my fault...)
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- čas přidán 2. 04. 2024
- We had a free range flock of about 30 chickens, and in a shockingly short period of time they were all taken out by predators. I know what happened but I didn't realize it in time. I hope we can spare you the agony of this with a few ideas. Chicken losses will happen, but I have never had this happen to this scale before.
#chicken #Chickens #Birds #Dogs #dog #Farm #flannelfarms - Zábava
I am so sorry, Brian. Not the chickens.
I'm sorry 😢 We learn a lot of lessons along this homesteading journey. Some good, some bad. But it is always a lesson learned. It's part of it and has happened to us all.
Brian, I am so sorry. How sad.
Thank you
😢I am so sorry for the loss of your chickens especially your hen Pip. Praying you are able to get some more birds and you find an affordable solution to the predator problem.
I'm ever so sorry for the loss of your chickens, I've lost two flocks in the past and finding them was heart breaking. I hope you can find a way to get that happy medium of safety and free range. ❤
Thank you, sorry for your losses as well
I’m so sorry for your loss, Brian. Like you, we’re also in the middle. But it still hurts when we lose them - especially the special ones like Pip. We’re sending lots of love to you and your family. May God hold you and comfort your hearts. ❤️🙏❤
Thank you kindly
I lost some chickens this week too. Breaks my heart. Bless you and yours.
So sorry :/
So sorry, that is devastating! I hope you can get the pupper trained to not leave the property. Collar that gives a zap if the dog goes outside of a specified radius (some sort of wifi type device) is what cured my brother's escape artist beagle. Not sure how much the setup was, I think the collar was about $130. Not super cheap, but hey -- it's "farm equipment" on the tax write-off form!
Woo good idea
Sorry you lost your flock. always a concern with mine if an own, hawk or coyote will get them. They definitely love to be really free ranged though. So far only ones I have lost are ones that did not get into the coop at night.
I think that might be it also, the time change happened and I didn't adjust the time it closes automatically.
I'm so sorry for your losses. That's an awful discovery in the best of times. I know there was a higher purpose to it and hope things make more sense later, but ... pain and sorrow now.
It sounds like you're exploring all your options. I know you will make decisions based on what you learn and that will, ultimately, make things better. I pray that your troubles are abated, at least for now.
Thanks so much
I’m so sorry for your (family’s) loss, that REALLY sucks. 💔 You obviously had the right idea with a dog guarding the property. It really sucks that it had to turn into a really sucky lesson, you guys didn’t deserve that! But at least you got to get wiser thru it. And thank you for sharing your lessons. We’re in the process of getting our first chicken coop and we too have the ”prancing pooch” problem, so our fence is in constant need for repair 😅 Also, living in the swedish boondocks we’ve got all kinds of wild & hungry animals living around us (and we’re really greatful for that 🙏) But we too worry about keeping our furried family members safely imprisoned, so REALLY thank you for sharing ya’lls experiences! 😍👍
Gladly, and thats the hope, that we all learn from each other. Swedish you say? You might be our first Swedish subscribers! Welcome to the Flannel Fam :)
@@FlannelFarmsAwsome! 👩🏻🌾👍🇸🇪 and thank you, that’s so kind! 🙏
Hi. Brian, we sorry to heard the news. Terrible. I hope and pray that you will get double the amount of chickens you lost. The end will be better than the beginning. Joshua and Gayle
Thank you my friend. Miss you guys!
I’ve been looking at shock collar options for Duncan, because for some reason, whenever we let him out he heads straight for the property lines and goes right into the neighbors yard. I met a guy who told me about a GPS collar that pairs with your smart phone, and lets you set boundaries on a map. That way you don’t have to mess with burying an invisible fence wire around your yard.
Yeah we are looking into those, cheaper than electric but still expensive and they need training to use it.
My neighbor just got the GPS collar. Do major research before buying. His lasted 3 whole days and they would not give a refund, or replacement on Amazon.
@k.p.1139 thanks for the info.
We use Halo collar and it’s great. We leave the dogs out all day and can monitor them on our phone, beep, shock and call them back Into the property line from anywhere on our phone. It’s been great!
@davidharris7608 thanks man, I will look into that.
I think they make shock collars that are based off a center location. I know it’s frustrating having your dog go over to the neighbors. My grandpa on the farm always sold dogs that would roam. But for him dogs were just a slight tier up from livestock.
We definitely see her as more than livestock, but I understand his mentality
So very sorry. A couple years ago, we lost all of ours in one night to a weasel. It was so sad and felt devastating. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Weasel ? They're small...
Maybe stoat, ferret?
I'm not sure, they were cleared out so fast. I know a few were racoon based on the damage done, and I'm fairly sure some were foxes.
Weasel and mink are what worry me the most, our pens are pretty secure to anything bigger!
I got weasel around my chickens...no protection bar the roosting heights...zero fatalities...i seen my cat kill a few tho...@FlannelFarms
@@FlannelFarmssorry...my reply confusing.. my cats kill the weasel .
And no weasel have attacked my chooks...ever 2 years..free in a paddock nz....
Similar experience for us. We added Egyptian Faomi and guinea fowl to our flock of Easter Eggers. Mixing the Faomi into the bloodline increased predator awareness and evasiveness. We keep 2 dogs on runners flanking both sides of our coop. Can't afford to fence in our property either but our dogs alert us to ground predators and the guineas alert the flock to aerial predators. At night after the flock returns to the coop, the dogs come inside the house.
Flexibility and adaptability is the key to homestead survival. It's heartbreaking losing anyone in the homestead family whether they have 2 legs or 4, feathers or fur. 😓
That is a great idea, thank you.
I’m so sorry Brian! We love our birds free ranging! One thing that’s worked for us is instead of electric poultry netting, we did one section electric goat netting around the coop. We move the coop around depending on the season, and the netting goes with it along with a small portable solar charger. The chickens can get the the netting super easy, but foxes, coyotes, dogs, etc can’t get in. If there’s a predator, the chickens run into the netting area and are safe. At night in the coop, they’re safe as well bcuz of it. During the day, they free range down by the pond, or oftentimes like to follow the goats around! It’s worked so well for us!
We had done some netting, sounds like a similar set up but it was getting annoying to move, and we tried to have it in the cow pasture and the cows trampled it lol.
We might have to revisit that idea though.
They make an invisible fence now that just works on GPS and you can set whatever boundaries without having to bury wire. It's pretty expensive but I'm sure it's cheaper that having to replace all those chickens.
I’m so sorry yall. Aaargh.
Sigh I just found the channel and laughed about the chicken waterer struggles. Was gonna binge other vids but this is the next one. Nooooo! Going back to watch for their memories. RIP to your flock of freedom. ❤️
I’ve been really lucky so far, because we don’t have a lot of land and daily see stray dogs and hawks circling us. But thankfully the dogs have left the fence we put up alone, and what hawk netting has worked. Hubby thinks its all the guard turkey detouring them, but I think its just luck. Timing is horrible, when you have to work on one problem and it causes another, letting in opportunity to take advantage of the weak spot.
Welcome to the Flannel Fam! I'm so glad you found us.
You're totally right about something taking advantage of the weak spot. One massive thing we've learned moving out here and trying all this is the more things you add to your plate the more time you have to spend maintaining those things.
I like my chickens but they are for eggs and meat. Too bad about Pip! I love free ranging too! It's fun to watch them. Yup, the hens got taken from the coyotes etc. in the area. Ester was obviously keeping them safe until she started going astray. I'm sorry you lost so many birds. I've lost a bunch over a couple of nights. It's never good! I've lost full grown turkeys too. So sad. It'll get better again I hope. Thanks for sharing this with us Brian. Take care and God bless.
Thank you Kathryn, sorry for your losses as well.
Sorry to hear about your chickens Brian. Maybe you can do a wireless fence for Esther that covers say an acre or 2 so she can still roam near the chickens yet not be able to meander over to the neighbors house. Unfortunately living in tbe country can mean that dogs roam the neighborhood at all hours of the day if they are not confined in some way to their yard.
Thanks MM :)
Our LGD lived in a fenced area with our chickens. They were incredible guardians. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you are able to train her to stay home, but a physical fence may be the only real solution. Even with fencing, digging out is another issue. We had electric fencing around nose height. It only stayed electrified for a year. Praying for good guidance and discernment. 🙏🏻
Thanks Sheafmom, we hope a wireless will help. She is such a good girl!
We’re on almost 10 acres and have 3 pyrs. Also building up from the bootstraps. Gradually, we’ve installed welded wire fence from the farm store with t posts. Our eldest pyr once even jumped through a low window in the barn, actually broke the thin glass, to get to a neighbor. That’s when we put the invisible fence on the physical fence. I think the Sportdog brand was about $300. That did the trick. We were able to stop using it for the past couple of years because our Houdini met his match and gave up on escaping. Then came little Molly, pyr #3, to learn from the older 2 pyrs. Well, Molly caught the scent of the mink that I walked in on one day, about to take the kill bite on my ducks neck. (She survived with a minor neck range of motion disability.) Molly went under one fence, our smaller “fort nox,” followed the scent right out of the second fence with the elder pyr right behind her (as I later watched the camera footage.) She put a hole in that one (we have a few sections of lesser quality fence that she promptly found). Later I discovered my neighbor had posted a pic on Facebook of my two dogs in their yard, even though I was in hot pursuit of them and calling them…she was trying to be helpful. But she was helpful in a different way, because the pic showed they had a critter trapped under something wooden in her yard. The mink has been gone ever since. I lost a few hens, a rooster, a duck, and two drakes. Not as painful as this was a small fraction of our birds. More hardware clothe went up, ducks were relocated to the rabbit house and run-which is hardware clothe on all sides and adjoins our backyard. Brahma hens will be phased out and silkies phased in, and they will also be closer as they don’t like to go far. Hubby is wiring the new invisible fence tomorrow….since we have added more fencing since the last time we used it, and we never found the last break, it’s just easier. Oh, and I purchased bulk tent stakes and they are now staking the bottom of the fort nox fence. The pyrs definitely keep us on our toes. In all this, Molly has really learned her job and is especially dedicated to the ducks, after seeing-and interrupting-the immediate aftermath of a drake being attacked (he’d passed by the next morning.) Another benefit of the DIY wired camera is the ability for the camera to announce “smile, you’re being recorded” repeatedly upon detection of movement, as loud as you like to set it. It bought me precious few minutes because it freaks mink out. It didn’t help that drake, but it helped us stay on its back and know when the prys had chased it out. Can’t do that with wireless camera without paying a monthly fee. Sorry…..I ramble.
I almost considered the gps containment, but it can only be set in a circle. Our fencing is square and the dogs are already accustomed to being able to access all areas inside the fence. On the one good and inexpensive one I found, you have to keep resetting the pin/boundary. The invisible fence weaved through the physical fence works best for us.
Brian, I am sorry for your loss. I know first hand how you feel. I had a flock of 25. Three were roosters. Went into town one day and when I returned home a couple of hours later, all but 4 of my chickens were dead. It was especially irritating because I had them inside a locked enclosure and I believed nothing could get in. My neighbor said yeah I heard a dog barking over there. Thought it was your dog. Later two more died from horrible wounds. It appeared to be a large dog, who must have been in a killing frenzy. The chicken pen looked like a murder scene, and all chickens were still there, just dead. the wire on my gate was ripped out of the staples and just enough room for a dog to get in and out. Funny thing is there was NEVER stray dog on my property before, and not since. Strange, sad, expensive.
I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry. Fox killed half of my flock last summer including turkeys and ducks. We ended up putting electric netting around the birds. It's keeping them safe but it's not the same as having them free.
Gosh, I’m sorry to hear that.
Time to pivot again. It’s always something isn’t it. Sorry about your troubles friend
I guess things only go wrong when you try and do things. If we weren't doing anything than nothing would happen. Thank you.
@@FlannelFarms if you don’t do anything stuff piles up and that’s worse. Keep praying and moving! ❤️
Dogs learn about electric fences real fast, you can make a pretty big paddock to keep your dog in and predators out that isn't too expensive. The automatic chicken doors work great to lock them up at night and let them out around 9am. Owls and hawks like to get them early.
i would recommend tractive gps app they make trackers for your dogs you can make boundaries on the app to alert you when they leave and you can call her back with a sound. our ranch dog sometimes leaves our ranch and goes into the road we get alerts press the sound and she goes back home with some training.
Sorry my friend. Tough loss! I know you can't afford the inground fencing, but check out the GPS collars like HALO for your dog. Maybe that will help keep him on your property? When Levi and Winston kept going off property, I looked into that, but the GPS coverage in my area wasn't good enough, so I ended up just putting up polywire fencing with step in posts to keep them in.
I’m sorry. We free range and lock our hens in the barn. Last fall a mink came in and killed 6. Last week another mink came in and killed 4. Two of my favorite hens Nuggy and Suzie passed. Our neighbor came and set a trap, that night that mink found a hole in there coop and killed one of their hens. We are setting traps for sure. Thankful it did not get 19 our baby chicks. We still have 12 laying hens but for us each loss matters.
Yes, each loss matters. So sorry for your losses
I'm so sorry Brian and Flannel Family. I hate to hear this.
We also have a Great Pyrenees, and they do wonder and know no boundaries. They believe they own all the land and just don't understand. They are awesome escape artists and whip smart. Maybe a buddy to pal around with . I totally understand noone can afford fencing for that amount of land.
It's just sad a predator got the chickens. Have you set up a game camera to see what exactly y'all are dealing with? That could help when you fortify the coop area
I haven't. The coop chickens, (we have 10) are ok, it is our free range flock that got got.
You should be able to train her to a hot wire as well and it's much cheaper than fencing. My wife's dog wouldn't even cross a string when we were laying out the foundation for our house because she thought it was live lol. She used to raise Huskys before we met and they would climb a fence so she put a hot wire around the inside to keep them from getting close enough to climb the fence.
Interesting. Thank you for the info.
Aww Brian, I'm so sorry. 😞😞
❤😢 I had a family of seven racoons tunnel under my coop last year and wiped out 26 birds. I feel your pain!
Oh dear, I'm so sorry.
Iam so very sorry😕 I know what you are going thru, we lost mixture of beautiful young chickens. We recovered, made some impromptu to the coop and hatched more chickens.
Sorry for your loss
Very sorry for your loss.😢
Thank you.
So sorry. Life just throws one thing after another. You will overcome, and be able to teach others what you've learned. Blessings. 👍
Thank you for the encouragement:)
♥️
This is so sad 😢 we lost one to a possum that got inside our shed. Such a horrible feeling n guilt 😔 sorry for your loss
Thank you, sorry for your loss as well
My heart goes out to you. I lost my whole flock of 18 chickens and a full grown male turkey in 2 days to a hunting pair of caracara. It was awful.
✌🏽
Oh dear
I am so sorry Brian. One of my dogs got loose last year and killed 11 of my chickens.
It happens so fast!
So sad! Happened to us years ago. We have a beautiful fox that lives around here. Hubby wants to take care of it, but we never see it when prepared. Smart fox. I am trying to let my out around 0900 because he comes around 0800-0830.
We shut out coop up at sunset and it prevents most casualties.
(Still lose some to hawks and the fox occasionally)
I think that's where we messed up, out autodoor was set for pre time change.
I used a electric collar with a wire as a invisible fence at my old acreage to teach my dog to stay on the property. I had to make sure he would stay off the busy main road I lived on wile away at work up to 36hrs at a time and it worked well. Over 10 years ago now but the brand was HumainContain and it allowed me to give him access to the house through powered door linked to collar as well as the rest of property. It was very important for me and not that cheap to make it work with long stretches gone to work on the railroad. Hope you find the solution that works for you.
Thanks man, I appreciate that. I can work up to 72 hour stretches so I feel you on the long time away bit.
Railroad seems really cool man, if I ever grow up I might go that route.
Oh, my brother! ♥️
Are they getting them at night?
From inside the coop?
Eugene Stoner have any suggestions?
Outside the coop. I think the automatic door was closing before dark after the time change and locking them out.
😭 I'm so very sorry.
So sorry 😢
I am so sorry 🙏🏻🙏🏻 when I got my Pyrenees’s I used dehydrated meat bites to get them to recall pretty good, if that helps any.
I had learned the hard way. On NOT what to do when raising chickens. Lost more than I wanted in the last 15 years. I have 2 medium coops & 2 smaller coops enclosed like Fort Knox. I do let them out to free range when I am home all day. In our neighborhood there are coyotes, foxes, hawks & 'free range' dogs that come & go. The oldest hen is 9 yrs. The youngest is 2 yrs. I watch them very closely. Sorry you have had to go thru losing your flock.
Thank you. We will definitely do some adjusting.
Hey hang in there....unfortunately this stuff happens and it is rough. You will figure it out.
That’s why I won’t free range. I’m too chicken
I'm sorry for your lose bud. Have you considered the wireless fence that works off a central tower? Doggo can only venture so many feet away from central point
We are thinking of it.
Sorry for your loss, truly. Is your guardian dog perhaps craving company of her own kind? Maybe some training of her and a pup for her to train? They get lonely too for their own kind. Doesn't have to be the same breed, depending on her age a smaller dog, thinking a cattle dog etc who herds and guards might be a thought. Just spit balling some thoughts. Again, so sorry for your loss and your guilt. Been there myself. May God look with favor upon you and I am certain the solution will come. 🙏🌷
Thank you Sharon. I don't think she is lonely, we love on her all day especially since the kids are homeschooled. We are working on perimeter training with her now.
damn. good luck with the future though, keep your head up
Sorry for your setback
Morning Brain, I had to come back to make another comment. There are more reports coming in, since yours, that chickens are vanishing across the US. It happens, right? YEAH, except for one little side note- They only have SIX chickens left. One lady said, her chickens are not vanishing, but, her eggs are all gone, every single morning. The predictors have been seen on video...and they don't have 4 legs. But, 2. Just a heads up that maybe you should beef up your monitoring for Mrs. Flannel and the kids!
Thank you for the heads up
Is there a way to put a perimeter fence up around the bulk of your property to keep Esther on your land, so she can continue to do her job?
We are going to try the GPS fences. We have some friends who have one who will let us borrow it and see if that helps.
Ugh, so hard. I’ve also lost an entire flock in one night. Devastating.
Yes, and even though we threw eggs in the incubator immediately, we end up behind by months until they are layer size, and it adds all that time that we spend raising them to it, brooders etc.
Were the chickens killed inside the coop? An automatic coop door could help.
@clydesdalehomestead3807 I have one and I think that's part of the problem. I have it set to close at a certain time, then the time change happened and I think, (I didn't see it so I can't be sure) that the door was closing while the birds were still outside...
That's a huge loss
Yeah...
Dang that sucks. What about a perimeter collar for your dog that doesn't use fencing but a particular radius from where the device is kept?
We are thinking about that and training her with flags.
Currently she is on a wire lead run and we've got it our near the coop.
@@FlannelFarms I hope that works for y'all! What a crummy situation:/
I think we might have a wireless perimeter dog collar system you could borrow for training Esther.
That would be amazing! Thank you.
I'm so sorry Brian 😢 Is she Spayed? Is it possible to get another Pyrenees puppy (male) to keep her company? She might be going over there because she's lonely.
She isn't, and she is scheduled to be. We've talked about a companion dog but I'm afraid she won't pay attention to guard dog duties if she has a playmate.
@@FlannelFarms Good point on the playmate. Hopefully having her Spayed will solve the issue, she may just be looking to breed.
Sorry this happened. Hope you can find a fix.
Get yourself a couple doggies. A big ol boz Shepherd would be a great addition.
Esther is our doggie, we just need to train her to stay closer to the flock n
Have you looked into the GPS wireless fence? I am considering this for my place.
Briefly, we have some more research to do but we are leaning that way.
😭
Ugh mom told me it happened but I didn't get to watch it until tonight. 💔 😢
A bit of a set back
That happens sometimes. Often predators will go on spree, contrary to many "nature experts." I have personally seen it. Pretty sure that compounded your problem.
That's a big loss emotionally as well as to your homesteading efforts.
Most domesticated birds are poorly equipped to defend themselves.
We had a pens and coops and let the flocks out daily. Putting the coop nearer the house lets you hear for a ruckus. We had geese and guineas and they let us know about problems. We only used them as alarms.
We also listened for when nature would suddenly go silent. We also had dogs for alarms, too.
Coyotes may have drawn off the dog, and other snuck around and for the opportunity.
Not Pip!!❤
Poor Pip. :(
So sorry to hear about that. I know it hurts To lose any animal on the farm.🥲🥹 Hopefully you'll hatch out your next flock soon and It all goes well.☦☦
Man that's a rough week. Do you know what got them?
I'm leaning towards foxes since the bodies were gone.
I’m so sorry brother. I’m gonna invite you to a LGD training group they may have some answers for you.
Thanks man
Bro , move to NZ .....
Chicken paradise ....no large predators...
So Sorry! my chickens are in zone 0!!! in a bear proof chicken run. It's spring time and predators are in high gear. But you know that. I have motion sensor solar lights everywhere at eye level for predators. I have watched coyotees at night come to my driveway gate, lights pop on and they freeze, then back out and leave. They think the lights popping on are a bigger predator. Ester goes on duty in a dog run at sundown! Ester needs a back up buddy, she is searching for a pack. pyrenees and anatolians are great, but german shephards are the closest to a wolf, that are coyotes' natural predator.
Zone 0! My goodness I bet you have some interesting challenges!
Ok, maybe zone 0.5 (25' from the house)@@FlannelFarms
Can't let em roam free. Period. Its a romantic notion just not practical. 30 yrs keeping hens has taught me this.
I've a flock of 6 who've been free range for 2 years, they survived.
I've kept birds 15 and normally I keep them in coops, but them roaming free helps keep the bug pressure down and add their amazing poop to my fields.
I think losses will be inevitable while doing this, but it is worth it.
My thoughts are that they are just too important to the homestead not to protect the best I can. I'm sure yall will do great...keep on rocking.
I have 18 free ranging birds. They come to the coop each evening and stay mostly in the trees or near buildings they can run under.
@waydownyonder8446 true, and we have 10 "house birds" that are in a nearly bullet proof coop. I won't risk all of them to the free range idea. Thank you for your comments, I appreciate them very much.
@marlaconry6341 yeah ours did the same. We've 6 that roost in the trees and they are still alive.
😭👎🏼
Sucks
Yeah, tough learning experience
If you have livestock it's your responsability to have a foolproof perimeter-fence. If you can't afford the fence you can't afford to have livestock.
Just my 2 cents.
Foolproof is a lofty goal, but animals are clever buggers. I know a guy who has 6 rows of 10 gauge wire in wooden posts that are electrified with a monster charger and his cows still manage to get out sometimes.
Even still, to your point, our animals are our responsibility and we need to get better at it.
I haven’t yet seen a fence that can keep out hawks, owls, snakes, raccoons and I’ve lost chickens to all of them. Plus bobcats, coyotes , mink. Yes, keeping the chickens locked in a box at all times is an option, but that brings its own problems.
Living is risky.