missing chicken

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yesterday afternoon,, I usually let the girls out to run and eat grass ,ect. WHen it was dusk,,, they still didnt want to go inside,, so I counted them and came back later. AN hour later,, they were all inside but one. A little banty,, she hasnt done this before. But I waited till the morning,, got up early,, she still wasnt around. DId a perimeter check,, no feathers,, not enough snow to find any good tracks. SO,, something got her, IM sure of it. Ive been setting a trap out the last 2 nights,, caught a possom the first night,, last night a big fat cat. COuldnt have been the cat, these girls usually beaat them up. Im guessing its a dog and she got carried away. I wont be letting them out for a few days,, and I hope we get enough snow so I can at least track trap the stupid thing.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), November 02, 2002

Answers

Are you sure that she's not sitting on a clutch of eggs somewhere?? You know how determined those banties can be :-)! She could have been scurrying off every time you let them out and laying a egg!! Keep an eye open for her when she gets off the nest long enough to get something to eat. I sure hope nothing got her!! Banties have great personalities!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), November 02, 2002.

What kinds of banties do you have? Sorry to hear bout your little hen, hopefully she's nesting up. I think they are so neat and inquisitive too. I've only got a few right now, mine are a barred rock hen and a golden laced Japanese pullet plus 5 cockerals that I can't decide what they are but they're sure cute. I want to get more bantam pullets in the spring. I found out it was a coyote that carted off 5 of my ducks and a few bantams earlier this summer. He was at the woods edge behind some heavy shrubs last week and I got off one shot before he bolted for the deeper woods. I don't think I got him but maybe he won't be back for a while. I can't put out traps because we have so many wild rabbits,squirrels and turkeys that I don't want to catch, so I will just keep an eye out for the coyotes.

-- Kathy (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), November 02, 2002.

the traps you use for coyotes arent the same as for rabits and squirrels, , they wont catch them, besides,, if you bait with meat,, rabbits wont go anywhere near them.

I have no idea what some of the banties are,, one is a gold buff,, 2 black ones,, and IM sure the others are crosses of some kind

But the good news,,,,, at some time, she showed up,, inside the fenced in yard,,, so, she was in there somewhere,, still cant find where, and shes been in the coop ever since,, so I dont think shes nesting. Think she just has a new hiding place

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), November 02, 2002.


Glad to hear she's back. Now about those traps, are they live traps or leg traps? My father was a trapper back in the 50's and they were leg traps(if I remember right) so they'd catch everything that passed by. :( I don't want to catch the innocent critters so that's why I said no traps.

-- Kathy (beckoningwinds@yahoo.com), November 02, 2002.

these traps arent live or leg holds,, these are kill traps, "conibear traps", kill traps,, so,, if you abit them with meat or such, they will catch predators/scavengers only. I put one on the edge of a 5 gal bucket,, so it only catches nuisance critters,, ones that are curious about meat and such. Rabbits and squirrels arent. Ive NEVER caught anything that wasnt a scavenger/predator while useing this set up., ,, summer, winter, fall spring. Because you use meat scraps,, non meat eaters dont bother with them. Though whatever gets caught,, gets killed,,,, it sticks its head in,, and trips the springs, and will choke strangle them, if it doesnt snap their neck, which is usually what happens. Email me direct,, and I can send you a pic of the trap, and the set up. Ive even bought these traps on ebay before, if you cant find them locally

-- stan (sopal@net-pert.com), November 02, 2002.


Stan, too bad you didn't get a chance to see where a trapping post went on Homesteading Today. Laughed my ass off at times! Anyway, I first trapped in 1950 for muskrats. Eventually moved up to conibears for bigger critters. Then the antis came down on us. They wanted a quick kill and the conibears did that. No more barn cats or snoopy dogs to be sent home to limp for a few days. Eliminated the "shoot" from "shoot, shovel, and shut up". Although I never caught a dog, many cats, feral or otherwise, became effective fox bait. I've got traps set here 24/7/365 for whatever enters my jungle. Coon, possum, and squirrels become supper. The bottomless pit from which feral cats emerge keeps spewing them out constantly. One large live trap and half dozen coil springs. Both at least give me an even chance when a skunk wanders through. And, the 1 in 20 nice cats have a chance to live. But you must do what you must do to protect your critter charges. Been there, done that, know what it feels when you lose stock. Your hen came back but the red flag went up to warn you to take drastic measures.

Martin

-- Martin (paquebot@stanknows.com), November 03, 2002.


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