Oh Dear!

i noticed yesterday morning how deadly quiet it . No cockerel crowing next door and as the day went on, no chooks telling the world they had laid an egg.
Has Mr Reynard been on a visit?
I have not seen my neighbour to ask. I hardly dare broach the subject.
There were far fewer chooks around so it does not bode well.
This morning one of the subservient cockerels tried a few tentative crows but it is still very very quiet.

 

We await updates @Goldenlily26 …

 

This happened to friends of ours here last week ...

"Living on a ranch in the country is amazing and then something happens that truly knocks you.
This week a mongoose got into our main chicken house with all our favourite egg layers in and killed a total of 11 chickens, taking 2 and leaving 9 for us to find the next morning.
Sophie, Dorris, Toni, Sally, Jack were among them along with many more.
Devastating to find such horror and it has left stillness on our yard!
But we can’t look back and are now looking forward of the hatching of 5 ducks due next week we are all excited about new life again! "

 

I am more worried it has put a temporary end to my supply of freshly laid eggs!

It is horrible to think of the suffering of some of the chickens, injured and left dying before my neighbour found the carnage. My previous neighbour had a similar experience, they managed to nurse a couple of birds back to health but several had to be put down too badly injured to save. The current neighbour is a veterinary nurse so is able to deal with situations with expertise thank goodness.
I am amazed I notice the quiet so much, I have occasionally cursed the bloomin* cockerel for being so noisy!

 

The only thing that reliably keeps foxes out is electric fencing. The poultry growers/exhibitors up here have stated it on many occasions.
Hope those ducklings make it @Victoria. We have a pair of mallards along the road - a good burn that flows along the back of woodland and then under our road, and plenty of habitat for them. Their nest is probably much farther away from the road, so I never see any offspring.

Nature is very harsh at times, but that's how it is.

 

Nature does seem harsh to us.
At this time of year the foxes are feeding their cubs and taking them out teaching them to hunt. A flock of dozy chickens would be too good a chance to miss. A lot of the chickens chose to sleep in the trees rather than in the hen house. My neighbour had to do a regular egg hunt around the fields etc because they persisted in laying their eggs in hidey holes. She has found as many as 20 eggs at a time. My dog flushed one out of my garden last week. It flew onto the conservatory roof which sent him mad because he could see it but couldn't reach it.
I have only seen about 5 chickens so several have disappeared.

 

Update.
The cockerels all safe! They have been relocated, not eaten.
I thought it was a good idea to have a single cockerel in with chickens to keep them under control. My neighbour thinks girls on their own will not get broody?

 

Afraid she’s mistaken. They’ll still go broody … doesn’t matter if the eggs are fertilised or not.
Traditional breeds are more likely to exhibit this behaviour as the more commercial hybrids have been bred to try to eradicate the behaviour.
Just turf the hen off the nest in the morning and prevent her from returning during the day …. or give in and let her raise a brood … but if there’s no cockerel that won’t happen …
Dealing with a Broody Hen (Complete Guide) - Know Your Chickens

 

That is what I thought.
My grand mother used to put china eggs under broody hens when she didn't want anymore chicks. Just left them to sit it out until they gave up.
Some of my neighbours hens are black silkies which I think are inclined to persistently be broody. I know there are a couple of Marans and a Buff Orpington.

 

Love Buff Orpington’s and Marans
You’re right … Silkies aren’t great layers (only 2or 3 a week) but are well known for going broody and have a reputation for being great for brooding and hatching eggs of other breeds for smallholders and smallscale poultry keepers … in earlier times they were kept by gamekeepers and used to hatch and rear pheasant chicks … afraid your neighbour won’t stop hers from going broody … she might just as well let them get on with it. It’s a shame future eggs are unlikely to be fertile if she’s hot rid of all the cockerels.

 

Next time I see her I will have to remember to check out what her thoughts and plans are for the chooks.
I really miss my 4.00am alarm calls. There is a sense of satisfaction when cooking, if I use next doors eggs. Even if I have had nothing to do with their care.
Ah well, onwards and upwards.

 

Update from here ...

"Time has made the shock of loosing 11 of our chickens easier and waking up to this today has definitely lifted our sprits.
One of our broody chicken has been sitting on 5 duck eggs kindly donated by Simon ... and they are now starting to hatch. This is just too cute "


"Meet one of our new ducklings that hatched this weekend… too cute! "

 

It makes life worth living to see such cuties.

 

I love watching Mother Hens get so stressed when ‘their’ newly hatched ducklings go for a paddle/swim … bless them

 

Our 2nd batch of rescue hens - 4 ex layers - are all white with floppy combs. I've finally got around to looking up their breed and find they are Leghorns which are shy and not trusting of hoomans. This explains why they come running when one of us goes down with the daily treat of sweetcorn but then hover till we move away. Nor do they come close and sit on the spade or fork to help us turn weeds like the first lot did - all brown speckled hens.

However, they didn't take long to grow decent feathers and tails and to learn about their new home and seem very happy, laying 3 or 4 eggs a day even in winter.

We let them in the polytunnel over winter as it's dry and they can shelter from weather and have great dust baths. They tolerate my presence at the other end while messing with sowing and pricking out but cluck a lot of they want to get past.

They are locked in a shed at night with nest boxes and a roosting bar plus their food and water and, so far, safe from any foxes or stone martens. The only fox I've ever seen on our plot was in daytime and was chased off by the dogs.

I really don't ever want to find they've been massacred. You have my sympathy @Victoria