Period Otters

[Flyfisher]

We have a pair of otters living somewhere nearby, presumably using our ponds and the river. I've seen an otter in the river a few times but this summer we were sitting in the garden and saw one run across the grass towards the river - the first time I'd ever seen on on land. Over the next few weeks I saw it three more times running somewhere or other across the grass, not always towards the water.

About three weeks ago we lost one of our hens sometime during the day. No feathers or anything, just gone. OK, it happens. A few days later, we lost another one. Then we lost two in one day and our neighbour said they had also lost a couple in recent weeks. We assumed it was a fox, though I was a bit surprised that there wasn't more mass slaughter, as we had a couple of years ago. This week, we were down to just two hens. One was the sole survivor of our first nine hens and was five years old, the other was about two years old and one of the replacement batch.

Yesterday, our neighbour came round to tell us she had seen her cockerel carried off by an otter that morning!

So it would seem that otters are more rather more intelligent than foxes and are quite happy to take only what they need during each 'shopping trip'

This evening, our two remaining hens were nowhere to be seen and the hen house is empty for the first time in five years. I imagine the otter is sleeping off another chicken dinner somewhere.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Oh dear! Double edged blessings then--- how is the Otter getting into your hen house?

 

[skier-hughes]

You'll need to replace them rather quickly if you aren't going to let the Otter starve to death!

 

[Flyfisher]

The risks of free-range hens I'm afraid. They were disappearing during the day, after we'd opened the hen house in the morning.

Our neighbour is fortifying their chicken run but it's not totally enclosed and, from what I've read, otters can jump over quite high fences.

I think we'll wait until springtime before considering replacing them - perhaps the otter will have moved on to a new supermarket by then.

 

[angrybird]

I hear they like curry, a madras or a vindaloo because thats a bit otter :lol: (sorry)

 

[Owain]

So it would seem that otters are more rather more intelligent than foxes and are quite happy to take only what they need during each 'shopping trip'

It wasn't the otter that carried them off, it was the ottermobile it carried them off in

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh my word!! At first I thought "he must mean a stoat" - sorry to doubt you - and then I googled it and sure enough it's a common-ish story! I can't believe how much meat they require- several pounds a day - you're lucky they haven't raided your fridge!

Is there anything that can be done about re-stocking the lakes - fish eggs or something?

Very sorry for your losses -it's so frustrating and upsetting really. Nice that they've gone to otters but even so. I think it's a good idea to wait until spring before restocking as they may have moved on by then.

 

[Flyfisher]

No, definitely not a stoat - much, much larger!
I shared your thoughts on them going to an otter and, oddly perhaps, felt it better than if a fox had got them.

However, there is an update. One of the remaining pair turned up this morning! Not our 'old girl' but one of the two-year olds. Presumably it was spooked by the otter and ran off somewhere else to spend the night. We now have a bit of a dilemma - keep her locked up in the tiny but fully enclosed 'run' around the hen house, all alone, or let her roam free and take her chances? We've opted for the free-range option.

At least they all had about as natural a life that's possible for a hen.

 

[LadyArowana]

Cheap cuts of meat and tame otters ?

 

[Moo]

An excellent idea, milady.
And Mike could find out all about their diet from the people at the Otter Sanctuary in Bungay, if it's still there. When our kids were little they used to love going there at feeding time.

 

[Flyfisher]

And Mike could find out all about their diet from the people at the Otter Sanctuary in Bungay, if it's still there.

From the lack of fish in the pond and the lack of hens in the hen house (yes, the last one disappeared today ), I'd hazard a guess that they quite like a fish and chicken diet.

We've had up to 30 ducks waiting around the bird table in the mornings (we throw them a cup full of corn each day) and I'm wondering if they'll be next on the menu? It'll be hard to know for sure though because their numbers seem to fluctuate everyday and the fortnightly shoot on the farm over the river also stirs them up a bit.

 

[Feltwell]

You have to be careful of Water Otters you know - I remember my grandfather telling me about this one when I was a kid......

http://www.francisfrith.com/potter-heigham/memories/the-water-otter_16931/

 

[Flyfisher]

Ha! Nice story, not heard of that one before.

Meanwhile, one of our hens has turned up yet again. It seems she has been roosting in some dense shrubs in a neighbour's garden! This has all the makings of quite a saga.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Always a saga with chickens. She's clearly spooked- mine have done that after fox attacks - especially the flying type breeds. I completely agree it's better that they have a free life, despite predation -they are after all jungle birds and need that kind of habitat really, lush with greenery and insect life. The electric poultry netting is very very good with its only drawback being the cost. I have had one attack within the electric netting however and lost 6 - it looked like something may have used a stump which was on the way to be logged to leap over the netting, and then as it left after the killing spree clambered over the netting causing it to collapse and no doubt shocking the creature considerably as it struggled out. But apart from that they have done brilliantly behind that netting, and I have far fewer losses than when I allowed them to chill out by the back door. The netting is about 120 metres long so it's a huge enclosure and they've no real reason to leave it - however the flying types (Light Sussex, Legbar) will fly over now and then to try and get in the house. But there's a lot to be said for restocking with flying types as they generally avoid predation. Apparently the Appenzellers spend really most of their time in trees and reward you with sweet little eggs - I'd love to get some of those.

 

[tobydog]

Whilst we can't compete with otters, we have had a rather traumatic time recently. Our neighbours dog (a lovely but pesky little thing) loved playing with our puppy. Unfortunately he was small enough to squeeze through boundary holes I couldn't even see and was regularly in our garden. The neighbours have chickens and have lost several to foxes and one or two to their own dog but thankfully the dog had finally got used to them. We made a silly mistake a couple of weeks back by letting ours out in the garden while we popped out for a couple of hours. We haven't let them out for a while but with the neighbours dog more relaxed with chickens (including ours having met them on previous occasions) we hoped it would be okay. Stupid move and we should have known better. Came home to find the Light Sussex stuck in a hedge (traumatised but otherwise okay) but the Italian leghorn fatally wounded. It died shortly after. The neighbours were very apologetic and bought us a nice Black Rock replacement. Unfortunately the dog had developed a taste for it again and a few days later managed to squeeze into our run, maul the Light Sussex but took a nasty chunck out of the back to the new arrival. We couldn't prove it was the neigbours dog but it was pretty obvious as our puppy is too big to get in there. A bit of tlc and thankfully no flies and the newbie was on the mend but she won't be flying again. I was intending to have a word with the neghbours because they would probably accept our word about what we thought had happened but there was no sign of them or the dog. Finally I managed to chat yesterday only to find out that the dog had been run over outside our houses last weekend. Unbeknown to me, I was fortifying the run not realising the dog was dead. Add to that, Mrs T's grandad dying yesterday morning, it's not been the best week or so.

Our neighbours plan to replace their dog with exactly the same but I do hope they learn their lesson on keeping the dog under control. It was never properly trained and always out on the lane (albeit a very quiet one) when their gates were open at all hours. I know we've had this discussion before but I don't blame the dog, the same as I wouldn't blame a fox. It's the owners that need to learn.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh you poor thing! My heartfelt sympathy to you and Mrs T on her sad family loss, what a stressful and sad combination of events. The neighbours sound extremely irresponsible with that dog and my blood starts boiling just reading about it - not only did they cause loss and distress to you but also the poor, silly dog died too. As you say I really hope they will learn their lesson and spend time training their next dog and keeping it in.

I so relate to the nipping out and then kicking yourself for having let the chicks out, I've done that one too many times and try not to now- but I know what you mean, they look at you imploringly you let them out, and then there's an attack and you blame yourself. It's really back to how you balance freedom versus their security and they aren't easy friends.

The dog problems we had do seem to have stopped though, the story of fining the one and shooting the other has perhaps spread.

 

[LadyArowana]

Hard to believe these little guys could be responsible for killing FF's lovely chooks, looks can be so deceptive http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/15/baby-otters-chester-zoo_n_4284259.html

 

[Flyfisher]

Ahhh, cute little killing machines wrapped up in a fluffy coat - much like cats really. :?

I have a glimmer of good news though. The last hen to go missing returned after a couple of days and nights and seems to have got the measure of the otter. I think this is because she can fly a bit and had been taking herself off to a neighbour's shrubbery in the late afternoon, where she can survey her surroundings from a safe height.

We've found that if we go out and call her well before dusk (so around 4pm at present) then she'll fly down, hop over the fence and scuttle into the hen house so we can lock her in safely for the night. If we leave it until 4:30pm then she won't budge, presumably because she judges it to be too dark and dangerous.

She seems happy enough, though it's hard not to anthropomorphise and assume she must be a bit lonely on her own.

 

[LadyArowana]

So it would seem that otters are more rather more intelligent than foxes and are quite happy to take only what they need during each 'shopping trip'.

A lot more intelligent that foxes. They have traveled all the way to Singapore, taken up residence in the visitors centre of the the Botanical Gardens and made your poor chook into Christmas dinner.