[whiskygalore]

I have just had all my girls stolen, Delia, Coco, Snowy, Gregory, and Cosmos. I am absolutely gutted. Has anybody experienced this? and what have you done to avoid it in the future. I will be starting again when I have cleaned the coup. The garden looks so empty now...........

[Viv]

Yes, sadly last year I had 12 of my best ladies taken.They came onto the field at night/very early morning and took them, It was not a fox as the door to the arc had been totally removed and laid on the grass, only a person could have moved it. My remaining hens were on the field and very scared. we reported it to the police, who felt that it was someone who passed the field regularly and new that they were there as they were quite well hidden from the road. The police circulated the info about my chickens but I never heard anything more. I was so upset. We moved everything from there to the field opposite our cottage, more secure as we or our dogs would hear if anyone decided to go on there.  Downside Thomas does cause soom annoyance with his crowing as he is now in the centre of the village 04.30am he started this morning, must have been the windy weather that set him off. Needless to say i am keeping a low profile today :oops:  :oops:
I do commiserate with you, I felt that if i had caught them at it I would have taken great pleasure in setting my dogs two large lurchers on them.

Good that you are going to restock, let us know how you get on

[ck2day]

So sorry for you. Some people have no thought for others. Hope you get some more soon,

Claire

[Lost in France]

So sorry to hear your hens have been stolen. Whilst I've never had hens stolen, when we were in UK, someone stole my dovecote at night and we lost birds too. I contacted the local paper with photos as I thought it would make it harder to sell on and alert people if it suddenly appeared in a garden. I was gutted, more for the birds but it was a difficult decision to start again. Why not send photos, if you have them, to your local paper with your sad story, I'm sure they'd print it!

Do hope you're not discouraged from keeping birds, maybe worth considering some sort of alarm?

Do hope you're able to track down the ratbag who took them.

Big hugs,

Judi

[Midwife]

You know, I can't believe how many stories are on this forum about stolen or murdered chickens :evil:  What are these people on? Is nothing safe!!! I am very sorry to hear this news WG, I know that we can get more chickens but they are not the ones you had taken. Each one of mine has a different personality and thier own habits that make them endearing.  XXX Hugs!!!!

[whiskygalore]

Thank you all so much for your kind words, in the cold light of day I am considering whether to continue with another batch of chickens.

I bought the last batch back in March last year, they were not in great shape when I bought them and with the assistance of this forum and a lot of TLC I was blessed with my first egg at 32 weeks!!! then they all started laying.

The girls were the centre of attraction to all visitors particularly children.

Okay the flower bed and herb patch got a bit of a thumping, and they sometimes left you a little gift on the door step but their individual personalities always got them out of trouble.

I really am devastated, I walked around the garden this morning hoping they had found their way home. All I saw was their little divots under the tree where they used to dust themselves.

I think I am going to leave it until after the spring and think about it then.

Thank you all so much once again

[Aunt Sally]

I really do hope you get some more hens, they will sweep away your sadness at one cluck  

[Viv]

You must get some more, its been heartbreaking for you, I know I was devastated. But, after a couple of weeks I went and bought some from a local supplier to go with the ladies that the thieves left.
You will miss looking after them if you don't get more