Thanks. Nothing this large was lost in this manner (except chicks and a pigeon prior to the hen). I had suspected this with the smaller fowl. Beginning to wonder if there is a python or boa around. LOL.
No telling out here in the woods.
Greetings all. Has anyone here seen where an eastern rat snake has constricted a full grown chicken hen to death? I had a hen sitting eggs with at least one hatched chick. I found her dead yesterday afternoon in the nest. It appeared that something had tried to swallow her beginning with the...
Thanks. Perhaps they are tardy in receiving notification. I did not inquire too deeply in that regard as I was mainly cursing the Feds at the time. :)
Since these folks know me fairly well, I cannot buy from them anonymously.
I might try your cash or no sale approach at TS or SS.
I am not...
This is new to me. I have been buying birds for many, many years. The owner said that this was instituted recently, and that he cannot sell them unless they take the information from the buyer.
Thus cash, check, or charge would not make a difference.
Greetings all!
Last Saturday I inquired at a local feed store in Petersburg, VA regarding the possible purchase of chickens this Spring.
During the conversation I was informed by the owner that the USDA was requiring them to record the name and address of the buyer in addition to the number of...
I am quite sure that all 3 of these particular kills were done during the night. That would eliminate any vultures. The vulture was most likely just after the possum remains on the ground.
Now an owl is a possibility. I have quite a few large great horned and barred owls around here.
Still...
When I arrived home this afternoon, I saw a turkey vulture fly up from behind my home. Back there I found the head and forelegs of a possum. Everything behind the forelegs was missing.
I am assuming that the internal organs on my Jeep belonged to this possum.
While I have seen these organs...
Not likely a lion as it would have caved in my Jeep's top. There is some debate as to whether or not they are around here in the wild.
We have lots of bobcats, but they grab and run as a rule.
Thanks.
Greetings all!
About two weeks ago I found the remains of a chicken hen and a mallard hen. The chicken left behind its stomach and entrails along with lots of feathers. I found these remains on the ground close to where I believe she was caught next to the coop.
I found the stomach and...
Your statement brought back a memory from the early '80's during my first few years of raising fowl.
I found a still warm deceased guinea out behind the chicken house. I decided to watch it and dispatch the predator. So I sat in the chicken house with the .22 rifle pointed out an opening...
The site seems to be pretty accurate given my experience. I have no weasels or minks, to my knowledge, in this area.
However, I know that a hawk will not always take the head. I have seen several hawk kills with the head still attached but the carcass was stripped to the bone.
Greetings!
I have to pretty much agree with the above assessment.
Given the time of day, it would appear to be the work of a hawk that was interrupted while feeding. If given time, a hawk will indeed strip the meat right off the bones. There is always the possibility that a vulture or crow...
Greetings!
When I was a young boy, we fed the chickens by shelling corn directly from the cob. I do not remember my Grandma feeding them anything else but food scraps. We always had plenty of fresh eggs and chicken meat. We ate most everything. She even put the chicken feet in soups for...