Sorry for your loss
Chicken Thieves
- Thread starter Captain Cluck
- Start date
- Jun 27, 2010
- 56
- 1
- 38
I have never considered HUMANS stealing chickens! Raccoons, opossums, feral dogs & cats, hawks, owls, maybe even rats and snakes, but not humans. Just never occurred to me.
MiF
MiF
I have found the crackheads in FL to be quite resourceful in finding new things to steal...if your feed store sells pullets at pol for 8 bucks, why could you sell a bunch for 5 bucks each...
WHERE HAS ALL THE HUMANITY GONE...................or is it just a small few that know what humanity is...????????????????
A lady that used to work at our local feed store had about 75 out of about 90 chickens stolen in one night while they slept. Her chickens were in lockdown as usual. The pen and coop were broken into during the night. It's obvious several people were involved in the theft. There wernt any tire tracks neither. She already had a couple cameras in place but unfortunately she didnt have them recording at that time. She didnt call the cops. I told her to call them and report the theft. The least they could do is increase patrols in her area and act as a deterrent.
I also told her to check craigslist and the local paper, bulletin boards at other farm supply stores etc...it could help identifying her stolen birds. No luck so far. It's a shame that it has come to this during this day and time and I believe it'll get worse.
I also told her to check craigslist and the local paper, bulletin boards at other farm supply stores etc...it could help identifying her stolen birds. No luck so far. It's a shame that it has come to this during this day and time and I believe it'll get worse.
I am so sorry your babies got stolen! I hope that those police stumble across these people!
I can't understand someone wanting to steal chickens.You can get them for barely anything. I think I will be buying a padlock!
- Jun 27, 2010
- 56
- 1
- 38
What I mean is, I would never think of stealing someones stuff . When I think of humans and crime, I think of home burglaries, crimes against people, ect. Wow, something else to look out for. MiF
- Jun 27, 2010
- 56
- 1
- 38
Y'know, if dope heads would get off drugs, get cleaned up ,and put some of this "resourceful" thinking to good use instead of breaking the law...they could be rich ! MiF
Last edited:
- Apr 13, 2012
- 125
- 4
- 93
There was an article in the local paper as well as on the local news a couple of weeks ago that someone had all of her laying hens stolen during the night. I believe this is going to be more and more common as times get tougher and tougher. We just got our first flock this year - I'd be devastated if someone stole all mine, especially considering they are a large part of my self-reliance plan. I didn't necessarily get them for fun, I got them because I think the world is going crazy and having chickens guarantees we have something to eat on a regular basis if everything falls apart. If someone came and stole my food source, that would be horrible!
Don't judge me as totally insane for my reasoning for getting the chickens to begin with - I really do adore them - and I have become far more attached than I ever thought I would be - they are so entertaining and the best pets I could have.
Still sleepy-eyed, she got up at 6:30 a.m. last Sunday to check on her hens in their backyard coop, she knew intuitively that something was amiss.
Though the door to the coop was closed, two cinder blocks used to support it had been knocked down, and the small door for the chickens was open. What she saw when she looked inside made her heart skip a beat: “All of the pretty ones were gone,” she said.
A dozen of her best hens had vanished; only two chickens and a rooster were left. There were no signs of feathers or blood, however, suggesting that the act wasn’t committed by an animal.
“It was like an alien sucked them up,” said Mrs. Walldroff, recalling the scene. “There’s no way a raccoon could have knocked down the slabs and slid open the door, so I knew right away that someone had stolen the chickens.”
Mrs. Walldroff and her husband, Matthew C., turned up more evidence: tire tracks veering off Route 180 onto the grass, prints that appear to have been made by a woman’s cowboy boot, a bent section of fence out back.
A lilac bush about 20 feet wide blocks the view of the coop from the house. Mrs. Walldroff speculated that after midnight, the perpetrator hopped the fence, scooped up the hens in a bag and escaped in a matter of minutes.
“We think this was premeditated, because they had to know that this was the best place to enter,” she said. Police are still investigating the case, she said.
Grabbing the chickens would have been simple because they essentially “play dead” at night, Mrs. Walldroff said. “During the daytime they make a fuss, but at night they’re very quiet and will hardly even cluck if they’re picked up,” she said. “That’s why we always add new chickens to the flock at night, when the others won’t notice.”
By closing the door and opening the small hatch, the thief made a poor attempt to make the act look like it was committed by an animal, Mrs. Walldroff said. But it would have been impossible for an animal to enter the property, let alone break into the coop, she said. The Walldroffs installed a wire fence around the half-acre of property last year after a fox killed six hens.
Meanwhile, other residents have reported thefts on nearby Dog Hill Road. However, Mrs. Walldroff said that to the best of her knowledge, this was the first time hens have been stolen from a coop in the area.
The theft does not make much sense economically. The couple originally purchased the chicks for $4 apiece at the local Agway. But the Walldroffs, who sell the eggs from a roadside stand for $4 a dozen, invest a lot of money to keep their hens healthy, Mrs. Walldroff said.
In addition to the $1,000 fence the Walldroffs installed last year, they spend about $30 a month to purchase organic food, feeding the hens twice a day. Collectively, the hens laid about a dozen eggs a day.
The Walldroffs already have taken additional precautions to protect their hens: a padlock has been installed on the door of the coop, and the small hatch has been boarded up. Plans are in the works to install lighting and an alarm system, as well.
“Who installs an alarm system to protect hens?” Mr. Walldroff asked, shaking his head in dismay. “But that’s what we’re going to do.”
For the couple, raising chickens has never been about the money. Taking care of them has been an enjoyable hobby the couple shares with neighbors and family.
“We do this because we love these chickens and enjoy them,” Mrs. Walldroff said, adding that the birds all had unique names and personalities. To her, it feels like the loss of a group of friends.
“This had really made me disgusted in humanity, to think someone could do this,” she said.
A large sign posted in front of her house now reads: “‘THOU SHALL NOT STEAL’ — God. PLEASE RETURN OUR HENS.”
“I hope whoever did this will see how much heartache they’ve caused and return the hens,” Mrs. Walldroff said. “If I woke up in the morning and found them back in the coop, it would restore my faith in humanity.”
Don't judge me as totally insane for my reasoning for getting the chickens to begin with - I really do adore them - and I have become far more attached than I ever thought I would be - they are so entertaining and the best pets I could have.
Still sleepy-eyed, she got up at 6:30 a.m. last Sunday to check on her hens in their backyard coop, she knew intuitively that something was amiss.
Though the door to the coop was closed, two cinder blocks used to support it had been knocked down, and the small door for the chickens was open. What she saw when she looked inside made her heart skip a beat: “All of the pretty ones were gone,” she said.
A dozen of her best hens had vanished; only two chickens and a rooster were left. There were no signs of feathers or blood, however, suggesting that the act wasn’t committed by an animal.
“It was like an alien sucked them up,” said Mrs. Walldroff, recalling the scene. “There’s no way a raccoon could have knocked down the slabs and slid open the door, so I knew right away that someone had stolen the chickens.”
Mrs. Walldroff and her husband, Matthew C., turned up more evidence: tire tracks veering off Route 180 onto the grass, prints that appear to have been made by a woman’s cowboy boot, a bent section of fence out back.
A lilac bush about 20 feet wide blocks the view of the coop from the house. Mrs. Walldroff speculated that after midnight, the perpetrator hopped the fence, scooped up the hens in a bag and escaped in a matter of minutes.
“We think this was premeditated, because they had to know that this was the best place to enter,” she said. Police are still investigating the case, she said.
Grabbing the chickens would have been simple because they essentially “play dead” at night, Mrs. Walldroff said. “During the daytime they make a fuss, but at night they’re very quiet and will hardly even cluck if they’re picked up,” she said. “That’s why we always add new chickens to the flock at night, when the others won’t notice.”
By closing the door and opening the small hatch, the thief made a poor attempt to make the act look like it was committed by an animal, Mrs. Walldroff said. But it would have been impossible for an animal to enter the property, let alone break into the coop, she said. The Walldroffs installed a wire fence around the half-acre of property last year after a fox killed six hens.
Meanwhile, other residents have reported thefts on nearby Dog Hill Road. However, Mrs. Walldroff said that to the best of her knowledge, this was the first time hens have been stolen from a coop in the area.
The theft does not make much sense economically. The couple originally purchased the chicks for $4 apiece at the local Agway. But the Walldroffs, who sell the eggs from a roadside stand for $4 a dozen, invest a lot of money to keep their hens healthy, Mrs. Walldroff said.
In addition to the $1,000 fence the Walldroffs installed last year, they spend about $30 a month to purchase organic food, feeding the hens twice a day. Collectively, the hens laid about a dozen eggs a day.
The Walldroffs already have taken additional precautions to protect their hens: a padlock has been installed on the door of the coop, and the small hatch has been boarded up. Plans are in the works to install lighting and an alarm system, as well.
“Who installs an alarm system to protect hens?” Mr. Walldroff asked, shaking his head in dismay. “But that’s what we’re going to do.”
For the couple, raising chickens has never been about the money. Taking care of them has been an enjoyable hobby the couple shares with neighbors and family.
“We do this because we love these chickens and enjoy them,” Mrs. Walldroff said, adding that the birds all had unique names and personalities. To her, it feels like the loss of a group of friends.
“This had really made me disgusted in humanity, to think someone could do this,” she said.
A large sign posted in front of her house now reads: “‘THOU SHALL NOT STEAL’ — God. PLEASE RETURN OUR HENS.”
“I hope whoever did this will see how much heartache they’ve caused and return the hens,” Mrs. Walldroff said. “If I woke up in the morning and found them back in the coop, it would restore my faith in humanity.”
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