Gone

I can't believe it. 

Yesterday I wrote about finding remains of two hens in the pasture. 

Last night, I sat down in the henyard to fill the duck pool.  I was VERY tired.  I noticed that Buddy, the red and white rooster, was running around importantly. 

I wondered where Rammy was... Rambo... our big rooster, son of our Buff Orpington Rambo, our first big rooster here. 

As Buddy ran back and forth, I called to the henhouse... Rammy, you better get out here. 

Then I realized... I had not seen him. 

I remembered that in the morning, I thought he was still inside with the hens, while Buddy ran around outside.  

I had even written about the fact that he seemed to be faltering a little, and that I thought maybe the drake was bothering him, and picking at his tail as he went by. 

You see him here on the right, four days ago... with his poor tail almost gone. 

Keith was gone all day yesterday, and I cut grass for hours.  

Finally, I thought it was strange the hens were not coming out to turn through the cut grass, and I went in to see what was going on.  

I couldn't find Rammy anywhere.  

Then I got to thinking that I really hadn't seen him since Saturday morning. 

This is all I found. 

One of his spurs. 

It was literally in the doorway to the pen, and I must have stepped on it in the morning going back and forth. Not a feather or anything else. 

I had just thought, the day I took the upper picture... that we needed to trim his spurs again. 

I also looked back to this picture... taken March 23rd: 

There's Rambo on the right, and he was easily the largest of all our birds.  

And guess what?  There are TWO production blacks, 2012 hatch, that are gone, not one. 

The only black hen left is Libby, who is four years old and, of course, laying only one or two eggs a week. 

In fact, of the hens in the big henhouse... I am getting only MAYBE two eggs a day out of them now, instead of six to eight. 

The perpetrator is NOT taking the bantams. 

Heck, no. 

Is it this guy? 

This is the dog coyote we saw with the hurt leg, clear back in February or March. 

He appears to be gaunt at this point, and starving.  

Don't think it's him, I don't think he could make it up the pasture in the daylight and grab a bird and get away with it. 

I caught him on the game camera last night, desperately looking for something to eat. 

Am I worried about the little guys, the goats? 

You bet! 

The hens are staying in mostly now, in the henyard. 

I am thinking of moving the few that I think are still laying over to the henspa. 

I wanted to lower our numbers, but not this way. 

So far, no ducks are missing.