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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

On 11/14/06, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Duh....that should be 3 things left to do....electric fencing should be
> number 2...
The 'heads chewed off' evidence suggests to me that it's a member of
the weasel family, either a weasel or a skunk. Coons mainly kill and
eat.

Dogs loose on the property are a great deterrent. Until I had nothing
but BCs who were inside at night I had no losses. Even afterward it
took a few years before the local fauna realized that a smorgasbord
was available. One day I came home early and found Mom coon and her
brood of 3/4-grown young heading out, belching and farting as they
crossed the road.

The day after I opened the front door because I heard the guineas
going ape shit and found a coyote grabbing a hen at 2 p.m. I decided
to get a livestock guard dog again. I had had Komondork, good and
effective girls, and before that rescue mastiffs. My Anatolian is a
lovely dog, but he is still not clear on not eating the chickens. He's
advanced since the last time I had chickens. OTOH, with the chickens
secure inside a Louie-proof fence, he's not letting any predators near
them. He's fine with the chooks while I'm there, and he knows he
really, really shouldn't eat them but it's hard. He's a pup though
he's into his third year on earth. I'm awfully glad that Anatolians
tend to live into a second decade.

Marie