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Sunday, January 22, 2012

The unthinkable

This mornings trip to the hen house was not pleasant. I had a feeling something was amiss as there just seemed to be a bit of out of the ordinary clucking. Tom said he heard the turkey and ducks in the night but neither Tim nor I did. He shone the torch out there but being half asleep and about 30metres away couldn't discern any trouble.

The unthinkable had happened though. A fox or quoll or something else entirely different had killed one of the Pekins. I found it's body up against the fence with it's head missing (the killer did leave the head behind too). Not a nice way to leave this world. Thankfully the pen is secure (hopefully secure enough) and the beast didn't actually get inside to do more damage. No doubt it will be back tonight and I will be waiting. Foxes and rabbits are amongst the worst animals ever to be released in Australia and I would be hard pressed to find a farmer who is keen on either. I'm glad that the lambs are big enough to not be too troubled by hungry preditors.
Tracy

9 comments:

Chookyblue...... said...

that's better then our massacre before Christmas we lost 7 chooks one night.......darn foxes are cruel things.........goodluck

Bec - Farmers Wife said...

Normally the one they get is the kids prized pet. Sounds like you got off better than chookyblue.

Happy hunting tonight .....

Val said...

I'm sorry.

Janice said...

Not the best start to the day. Hopefully you won't lose any more.

Lisa said...

Oh, what a thing to come upon in the morning, or any time!
The other night I was up late and saw a fox crossing our yard - it was a treat, because they're pretty animals. But, reading this reminds me of the other side of them.

Kim said...

Yes that has happened to us too. One year we lost our entire flock. Hope the chickens were okay last night.

Paola said...

Couldn't agree more - we've lost chickens and ducks over the years to these pests. It's just horrible when you find the mess they make of these poor birds.

Vickie said...

aww what a yukky start to the day, hope you can scare the offender off,cheers Vickie

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

I'm sorry. I lived on a ranch growing up and I can't tell you how many times stuff like that happened to my favorite pets.