Hey Ho

The badger returned last night.
It killed six hens sheltering inside my most robust hen house.
A hen house which I have used successfully for over seven years without a problem.
All six were excellent layers and
I now doubt that I am going to be able to fill my regular egg orders from now on.

I only found one corpse  tucked away in the nettles and that had all of the tell tale injuries of a badger attack.




52 comments:

  1. Oh John, how awful - what can I say. Like foxes, badgers look such lovely creatures and childrens' story books speak of them in such sweet guises that we tend to forget that the pair of them really show us nature red in tooth and claw. Trouble is that once they find a way, they will be back.

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  2. I'm so sorry, it's heartbreaking to lose a pet but to find them like that must be devastating x

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  3. So sorry for the hens and you John.
    What else could you possibly do to keep them safe?
    Concrete around the bases, welded mesh attached to the floor, walls and roof? The egg price would have to go up.....
    I'm about to get hens and anti-fox and protection come before the look of the coop and run. I lie awake lately worrying already about them!

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  4. So sorry to hear about your hens x particularly when there is so little you can do about the badger itself :-(

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  5. It'll be back, so be prepared. I think you'll have to kill it; once it's tasted chicken it won't be able to resist.

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  6. I feel for you, John. It's a terrible thing and not a whole lot to do about it. When the murderous bastards want in, they get in.

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  7. The trouble is - as far as I understand it - badgers follow the same path every night on their patrols. This must guarantee its return. Concrete hen-houses?

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  8. :(

    nasty badger - trap and kill it!

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    1. Don't be silly. Leave out tasty food on a slight variation of their patrol, and keep varying it until they veer away. They'll eat anything - dead or alive - just so long as they stumble upon it. Not like a fox.

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    2. Tom is right, although I suspect the main killer is a sow feeding almost grown cubs
      ...she has a taste for hen
      And she will be back

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  9. Oh John,
    What a terrible blow ….. Obviously foxes and badgers are drawbacks to keeping livestock. Do you think that you will be able to have more chickens ? …. I'm so sorry….. you must be devastated. XXXX

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  10. Oh gosh John, I feel for you. But it's returning night after night to a known source of food and although you are doing your best, you are fighting nature and that is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

    All you could do would be to sit outside for a night and scare the living daylights out of it with noise and lights when it arrives ....

    .... thinking about it maybe if you got in touch with the girl in the pink singlet she would come and yell at the bloody badger for you, now THAT would be a deterrent!!

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  11. Oh no, that's such a tragedy. Do you have a gun? You could perhaps lie in wait for the badger and blatt it. xx

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  12. Dreadfully sorry, J.G. Not something one can make light of. When you've recovered from the blow I do hope you can find some way to see yourself round this. Profound commiserations.

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  13. A mains electric fencer would work John. I once touched a neighbours mains fencer and it threw me to the ground. Sorry to read about your poor hens.

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  14. Bugger! Someone was selling a flock of chickens locally on Facebook the other day...

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  15. O John, I'm SO sorry. It must be heart and spiritbreaking, finding this. WOuld it help if you let the dogs outside for a few nights, on a leash, might that scare him off?
    really sorry!

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  16. O John, I'm SO sorry. It must be heart and spiritbreaking, finding this. WOuld it help if you let the dogs outside for a few nights, on a leash, might that scare him off?
    really sorry!

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  17. How sad, can you use an electric fence?

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  18. So sorry to hear this! Suggest an electric fence might be the only option -- sadly, now that it has tasted chicken it won't be able to resist coming back for more. Nature can be a real bitch.

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  19. So very sorry to read this John. Nature can be beautiful but also cruel sometimes. Are badgers common around there? I wonder if other people in the village have had the same issues with them.

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  20. I followed your blog because I love the fact you spoke up to that young woman in Tescos. Sorry about the chickens, that sucks.

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  21. Anonymous11:32 am

    After all the kindness you've shown the badgers...leaving offerings on their hill for them to clean up. The miserable things. I know you are kind hearted but perhaps it's time to set some traps and rid the area of these horrible creatures.

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  22. Sit out with a big b at in hand! This is just heart-breaking. After enjoying such a good life on your patch to be taken in such a horrible way...laws be damned... get the bugger. perhaps a live trap and relocate to Siberia.

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  23. Sorry to hear it John. LIkely to be back again, now it has found an "easy" food source.
    Electric fencing?

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  24. Anonymous11:47 am

    You've said they are protected, but can you trap and release far away? That's awful. Sorry. :-(

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  25. Wish I could offer more than sympathy and a virtual shaken fist in the bastard's general direction. Sounds like you've had a rough week, my friend.

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    Replies
    1. Maybe this will give you a chuckle: http://imgur.com/gallery/TdoFmvb

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  26. He will be back as he knows its an easy source of food. Either a shotgun or a trap is in order. Its a mater of choosing between one life or multiple of your flock.

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    1. You can't in the uk as they're protected. Big fine and license removed if you do. Thats the uk for you!

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    2. Kev: Surely there must be some sort of "protecting livestock exemption". Or are you juts supposed to let them kill your livestock?

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  27. Whoa that's bad. It's a pity that badgers don't eat bitches in pink singlets...

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  28. I am so sorry. I know you must have a solution in mind; please let us know. We'll all grunt with you when you put it in place.

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  29. That stinks, too bad you can't put up electric fencing and electrocute the marauding bastards.

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  30. Anonymous1:59 pm

    Awful. So you would be a supporter of the English badger cull?

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  31. Always something after our hens. Maybe we should all buy an island with no predators and live there!

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  32. That was one hungry badger! And determined too!
    Is there a manageable animal you could have that would be deterrent to these very aggressive badgers?

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  33. :( Sorry to hear this John - nature's a bitch sometimes :(

    Can the Barger Trust offer any advice on deterring them? Electric fence maybe?

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  34. So sorry John, the predators arghhh. Are you allowed to set traps there?Honeyman sets out traps till we catch which ever critter it is. The traps don't hurt the animals, then you can rehome them elsewhere.

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  35. Sounds like you need to go all Rambo on the badger... perhaps a live trap?

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  36. Well now, I’m thinking a badger pelt would look very nice on the back of a comfy chair.

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  37. 6!!!! geee I am so sorry wonder if there was more than one badger.

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  38. No more Mr. Nice Guy John because the "honey badger don't care!"
    My nephew's school has a Badger as their mascot for its football team.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg

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    Replies
    1. Thanks all
      No time to answer comments as you may see in the next post
      Hey fucking ho

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  39. Anonymous4:02 pm

    Of course it's shite, John. Still, badger are badgers. And need to eat too.

    A writer who shall remain unnamed killed a rabbit the other day. Because it nibbled her parsley. What do you want a rabbit to do: Queue with 69 p in his paw to get a packet of herbs? Or a carrot? The animal world doesn't work like that. Only humans shoot or do what my father did to some of those blind animals - moles. At least the mole only made a few hills on the lawn not a bloody mountain.

    U

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  40. So sorry about your hens. Trap them and take them far, far away and release them. I would also try an electric fence. I've got some raccoons I would like to take far, far away. They clean me out of birdseed everyday.

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  41. I am sorry to hear this, John. I see in your next post you have taken action.

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  42. Protected, but what about your livestock? Poor hens and poor you to make such a sad discovery.

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  43. Just read this - sorry,sorry,sorry. x

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