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| Sookie keeps watch over Gypsy and Molly in July, 2009. |
Bad news from SoCal. My sister informed me that her prized layer Gypsy was killed on Halloween night by a local predator.
She woke Monday to find the coop open and bloodied…feathers and chicken guts everywhere.
Creepy.
This is her second chicken death this year. The first was an older hen, who died of natural causes.
But there was nothing natural about this murderous attack on Gypsy, a Rhode Island Red she bought in the summer of ’09.
My SoCal sis thinks it was probably a raccoon or a possum. Those urban raccoons can be pretty viscous. The creature tore apart Gypsy, but left the other two hens – Molly and Camilla – alone.
Her pen seemed pretty secure. Any ideas how to better protect backyard chickens from creatures of the night?
Sookie could be pretty good at sounding the alarm, but I’d be worried a good-sized raccoon could take her too.
Virtual Farmgirl 
My chickens are pretty spooked after witnessing such a horrible murderous attack. Camilla has started laying again, but Molly may take some time. I've been paying extra attention to Molly…today we sunbathed on my back porch eating fruit and banana bread 🙂
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My chickens are pretty spooked after witnessing such a horrible murderous attack. Camilla has started laying again, but Molly may take some time. I've been paying extra attention to Molly…today we sunbathed on my back porch eating fruit and banana bread 🙂
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