I found a hole in the back fence and repaired it this morning before leaving for market. Not that a very clever and strong animal couldn't get through it, but I did the best I could with my bum knee and time constraints. Androo and Clay will be working on the whole fence on Friday. I stopped at Tractor Supply on my way home from market and got 150 feet of 48" fencing. It is all the fencing I could get in my Prius, along with milk jars and other stuff from market. I will go for another load while they are working on the fence on Friday.
I was gratified to see that there were no dead chickens in the pen today - first time in the past four days. So at least for today, perhaps the repair was good enough. Now if only it holds until Friday.
I am also very thankful that Buster, Tiny, Ricky Ricardo and Goldie are all still very much alive. On Tuesday, I was sure it was Ricky lying in the pile of feathers, but on closer examination it was a Buckeye hen. I was so glad to see Ricky strutting around the pen, very healthy and alive, so there was some joy in the midst of my sadness.
Whatever this animal is, it seems to prefer big birds. I suppose they are a little less nimble, or maybe it is just that the Campines are good flyers and all end up sitting on top of the Moop when this creature comes for lunch. I found scat just outside the hole in the fence this morning, will have to do a little investigating to figure out what it is. Raccoons usually don't attack in the daylight hours. The hole in the fence was BIG, so it might even have been a coyote, although my first suspicion is that it is a fox.
Well, out to the internet to examine scat pictures.
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