Not a good start to the day

[RPWC]

Many of you already know I keep hens, this morning I let them out in their run before I went to work,. They had been out about 10 minutes and I was just about to jump in the van when i heard them squeaking and cackling furiously,so went down to the run,and found a ferret had killed one of them and was in the process of trying to drag it away..
I kicked it as hard as I could and it let go,then ran under the tarpaulin covering the straw bales.
I stamped on it as it was under the tarp,and it squealed but got away.
Out of the 4 hens I had left, it had killed one, and another had disappeared,looked all over,neighbours gardens , but no sign of her,the other two were traumatised and tried to come into the house,poor little things.
However when I came home this afternoon,I went down to the pen and I could hear the missing hen faintly squeaking on the other side of the hedge.
Put some food out for her on my side of the hedge,and lifted the wire mesh and in she came..
The three of them have stayed at the back of the house all day,not even food would entice them to go any further down the garden. luckily the kids are still off so can keep an eye on them whilst they're in the garden. .

[FLYER]

That will put a stop to fresh eggs for a while then..

[Si-monogram]

I had a group of hedgehogs kill my two girls. I usually keep rescue hens that I get off of the bhwt.

I mean without sounding preachy and you probably already know your stuff but I'd keep an eye on the current ones as the stress can be a killer aswell.

I used to keep a flock of 145 girls on the farm in Kent and I was quite lucky in that I never lost any to fox attacks etc, just random illness etc.

[RPWC]

They are just over 3 years old now George, so only getting 2/3 eggs every couple of days,they're just pets really,we don't use many eggs ,most of them we give to family and neighbours. If you want some ,i will fetch you a box to CB.

[FLYER]

My mate used to keep Silky Bantams .

One night a weasel got in their hutch and killed the lot .

He nailed it the next night when it came back.

[FLYER]

Originally Posted by RPWC

They are just over 3 years old now George, so only getting 2/3 eggs every couple of days,they're just pets really,we don't use many eggs ,most of them we give to family and neighbours. If you want some ,i will fetch you a box to CB.

That will do nicely Rich...

Sorry about the hen btw.

[RPWC]

Originally Posted by MR190

I had a group of hedgehogs kill my two girls. I usually keep rescue hens that I get off of the bhwt.

I mean without sounding preachy and you probably already know your stuff but I'd keep an eye on the current ones as the stress can be a killer aswell.

I used to keep a flock of 145 girls on the farm in Kent and I was quite lucky in that I never lost any to fox attacks etc, just random illness etc.

This is my third lot of hens in about 12 years Simon, the first lot I had were Rhodies, they only lasted about a year ,as they got Mark's disease. The next lot I had were Goldlines,a hybrid derivative of the Rhodie,and I had them for about 3 years, they just died of natural causes. This lot are also Goldlines,I started with 6,and last year ,I lost 2 ,one became egg bound,and I took her to the vet, but it was too late,the egg membrane had already burst inside her, and the other one just stopped eating and faded away,i had to intervene in the end as it was criminal just to let her suffer any longer.
Never had problems with foxes,we aren't rural enough for them, but do get the odd cat coming in, but the hens alert us of its presence,by the noise they make.

[RPWC]

Originally Posted by FLYER

That will do nicely Rich...

Sorry about the hen btw.

remind me on a few days beforehand.

[FLYER]

Originally Posted by RPWC

remind me on a few days beforehand.

I have a memory like a .

Oops .

[Ravinder]

Sorry to hear this. Hope they're not too traumatised. It's amazing how all living things have feelings and emotion, despite what people say.