Sad day today. When I went out to the coop today, Miss Betty, my only frizzle, had died. She lived a whole year. She was acting normal yesterday, so I have no idea what happened. The rest of the girls are doing fine. From what I hear, the longevity of bantams is not very good. Does anyone know if that is that right?
BackyardHen, while I'm thinking of it, here's a chicken name for you... My daughter always called Miss Betty, "Extra Crispy", because she thought my frizzle looked like the extra crispy chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken. :)
~~ Glenda
And then there were 5 :(
So sorry Glenda!
I was gone to my Moms for 4 days,and when I got home 3 of my 8 week old hens were missing! Then netting on the tractor had been rooled back! So we know it was a Two legged varmit that just came an helped themselves to my best hens . My little Tipsy the Jersey Giant and two of my Speckled Sussex ! I would have rather they had succombed to a fox or just keeled ove than to know a Human just walked into my backyard and took them!!! Im just heartsick!
Eufaula, that's terrible.
Yes it is !Its terrible when you go away and leave everything locked up in Pens . Then make sure you have waterers and feeders full enough for at least a week. Plus your husband checking in on them at night after he gets home!
Little Tipsy was my Dh's favorite! We got a big surprise when she started growing so big! We later learned she was a Jersey Giant and were tickled Pink! We still have one more but not as big!
Here she is towering over everybody!
Oh how awful Eufaula! I'm so sorry. In addition to being sad, that kind of behavior makes me mad. Well, odds are that this person does not live (miles) away - they live closer to you. Do you live out in the country or are there a lot of houses near you? How many people in your area would (know) that you have chickens? Does anyone else in your area have chickens? In time, you may still find out who took them. ~~ I'm not the type to take things lying down - I'm not very passive when it comes to right and wrong.... Would it help at all to fight back and put some effort into finding the chicken thief? Do you live in an area where you could pass out a "stolen chickens" flyer with the details of the netting being rolled back and the kinds of chickens missing? Or a sign in your front yard warning people that there is a chicken thief in the area, etc.? If you don't let too much time pass, you just might catch your chicken thief - or have someone else squeal on him/her.
When my girls were growing up and they were doing something wrong that they always thought they would get away with, I always reminded them of the truth found in Numbers 32:23 "...be sure your sin will find you out." ~~ Over the years, it has proven to be true. Eventually, you will get caught and your sin/crime will be exposed.
Yep, Im in the country but ive got ( Ahem) "Neighbors", close enough to know I have Chickens and the fact whether Im home or not!
Without any Proof I have a hard time proving that a person took them! But I do know that the Feed store owner that sells me feed said that a person came in this past week asking , if he knew anyone that had chickens near by. He said he wanted a Fat Hen! this person lives very close to me!!!!! But that doesnt make him a " Chicken thief"! So I will do the signs and posters as you suggested and an add in the local paers probably would help! the only thing is ... Im sure some one has found a way to make a couple of bucks at the Chicken auction! Hey Why raise your own and spend money on feed and meds , when you can just walk on some one elses farm and get what your want!!!!!! Hmmmmmmm, I thinking about getting a guard dog, The bigger the better!!!!!!!
I wondered if you had a dog. You could get a pup and train her not to hurt your chickens. They would become her "family" and hopefully she'll protect them.
If nothing else, hopefully, by passing out a "stolen chickens" flyer with a phone number to contact you, and pinning one up at the feed store - if the owner will let you, your effort will deter this thief from stealing from (you) again. If he/she knows that you are looking for him/her and looking out for him/her to steal again, the thief will look elsewhere for "easier" chickens to snatch.
If you don't mind, let us know what all you decided to do and what happens in the end.
You all know me.... I tell everything!!!!LOL!!!!!
Oh, here's another thought... Here's where you can buy ELECTRIC goat/poultry netting: http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=3246294f-7d79-4235-81f1-403fd3a45795
Let the thief come back and try to roll that netting up! :) You might actually get to hear him yelp! LOL
Be sure to post those posters at the livestock auction, Eufaula, with photos of the chickens. Too bad you can't get one of those blue dye things they use for bank robberies.
A dog or even geese would be a good idea.
Hart, now you've got me thinking... You can't put exploding blue dye on a chicken (which is a great idea!), but is there a way to "jimmy rig" something like it - a plastic bucket of dye on or above the tractor??? Wouldn't that be awesome if the next day you spot a guy looking like Papa Smurf!!
Eufaula, by any chance did you file a formal police report? If the chicken thief can see your place, seeing a police car in your drive way might make him think twice, as well. Do you have "no trespassing" signs on your property? If he comes back but you don't catch him with a chicken in his hands, maybe you could at least get him for trespassing. …Don't mind me. I'm just thinking outloud. I really hope you catch this chicken thief.
Yep signs on property, they do no good! You have to be home to catch someone trespassing!
That's true... If you're not home, you can't catch em.
No, but if they are caught you can have them charged with trespassing even if they haven't had a chance to nab chickens yet. And if they have, it gives the police another charge to tack on.
My parents garage was broken into twice. They put up a large "beware of the dog" sign and haven't had any problems since. There is no dog.
I almost lost some of my birds to someone taking them once
I use to advertize in the swap sheet to sell my culls
Well some people came out and bought about 10 birds.....
a few months later I advertized again
Came home one day,a strange car was in the driveway
here comes a man carrying my good show birds ,
(that were locked up in conditioning pens for the coming shows)
hes got 2 in each hand,dangling upside down and a box full already in his car
a woman was in the barn wrestling more out of the pens
I almost had heart failure
these people didn't speak english ,so it was difficult to explain to them that
NO, they cant buy those birds and NO ,it wasn't acceptable to walk in my barns
for a while after that I kept padlocks on my pens
They did buy about 20 of my free range culls but I never advertized again
the thought of what would have happened if I hadn't come home right then.....
gives me the shivers
one of the best ways tho keep the wire from being rollled back is to use those U shaped hog fence staples instead of regular staples
takes more time but if you have ever tried to get them out of the wood you'd know just how much work it is,and it would take some time to steal a bird
LOrdy, I wonder if the ad I put into the Georgia Market Bulletin was such a good thing! You give your name and Phone of courseand then your City is added. After that all someone has to do is read a telephone book for your address or google! ( sigh) What cha gonna do? Here I am trying to add a small income to our retirement years , and I get beat every which way I turn! From predatory animals and so called "Hunting" dogs turned loose to wreak havoc on the area , and now unscrupulous humans that think the world owes them the right to rip people off!
Oh Well, Im going to just owe it all up to a good learning experience and get a little more organized here! I will redo the living area for all my precious birdy babies and secure it a lot better! The Free Ranging is over for a while until I can get a 10 ft. high fence and electric fencing, a REALLY Big ,ugly tempered ,possessive ,Guard dog,a security system, and ............, Oh well you know what I mean and how I feel right now!!!
If some one is going to steal, it Always come back to them! Ill just keep replacing my lost ones! Thanks Y'all! Its funny but ,you all are the only ones that think this is serious !
Most people think Im a NUT case and the law lets you know that they are really tooooo busy to come to calls like this ! So I dont bother them any more! But I guarantee you, if I catch one and BOINK Him on the head with my baseball bat or spray them with Rock Salt , Id be the first in the slammer!!!!!
Isn't that the truth... Burns me up just to think about it...
I don't see why you can't advertise. Just add something like "Please call before coming so you are not mis-identified as an intruder." That leaves enough to the imagination (dogs? guns?) to deter the badly-motivated visitor.
Eufaula, here's another idea to help deter thieves...
Go to: http://patriotshop.us/index.php?cPath=54
For $1.75/each, you can buy "Protected by the 2nd Amendment" security stickers with a picture of a large handgun on it, and put them around your place. Folks don't need to know if you have a gun or not. ;)