It's like God is telling me I shouldn't have chickens.

Downeaster

Downeaster

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I've lost chickens to eagles, hawks, and a Great Horned Owl, any of which will land you in DEEP kim-chi for shooting. I've also lost them to foxes (shot two, missed a couple more) and a weasel (dumped his fuzzy ass, daughter had him mounted) and tonight I took out a BIG female bobcat.

Maine law allows for dispatching them (and foxes among other 4-footed predators) if they're harassing your live stock. Pretty sure eating them constitutes harassment...

Proviso is you have to notify a game warden within 12 hours. Called dispatch and the warden called me back and said he'd drop off a tag tomorrow so my daughter can have her mounted as well.

Thought it was a fox at first, until I saw it jump flat-footed from the ground to a 7 foot roof on the old sheep shed. Came back in the house and grabbed the AR figuring it'd be long gone by the time I got back, but damned if it wasn't sitting right in the middle of the fenced-in chicken yard like it owned the place.

Don't want to get too graphic, but the trusty AR with a red dot took care of it from about 50 yards.
 
Are you into other animals? Growing up we had some ducks that kept getting picked off by Fischer cats, coyotes etc. Got some goats, bucks specifically, and didn't have anymore issues with the animals. Tell you what I got within striking distance of one of those busters once and I can see why the coyotes screwed. They also cut and fertilize the grass. That said, if my chickens kept getting killed I'd want to snipe the bastard too.
 
Coon predation some years ago. I think the total kill was 11 birds. They'll eat one down to the bone and then kill the others just to get to the craw. Big she coon. I caught her and killed her.
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Many years ago I heard the goats blowing at something down slope. I saw a coyote just outside the fence sitting in the weeds. I shouted out "Hey hey Coyote! I see you. Here's the deal, you leave my stock alone and I'll leave your people alone!"
They've kept their side of the deal and I've kept mine.
Can't make deals with fox, coon or possums.
The deer eating my chestnuts get a pass with a caveat, I'll feed them but they'll feed me if the need arises....
 

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@Mailman - Yes, bears will take chickens in some circumstances. They're covered by the same rules. I think I'd grab something a tad larger than the .223 out of the safe tho...

@JesseeS - I used to keep a flock of sheep. At that time I had a dog and a llama. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING got inside the fence without one or both of them knowing. If the dog didn't chase it off, the llama would stomp a mudhole in it. Even found a domestic cat that the llama took exception to. Fernando and Grump were best buds. Anything else was open season.

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I as well used to keep a small flock of sheep, usually 6-8. I did not have a dog at the time. Neighborhood dogs had killed or maimed a sheep or two over the years so the sheep were deathly afraid of dogs. When they saw one they would all huddle up real tight. I went down to feed up one morning, the sheep were all together in their small flock and right in the middle was a pretty fox. It strolled right through the flock and they paid it no mind whatsoever. When the fox walked out of the flock, it spotted me and left. The sheep remained oblivious to it all.
 
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