We started with 5 adorable chicks almost 6 years ago and it's been a steady decline ever since. These cute chicks grew into lovely hens - and all of them make a great meal for local racoons and skunks and possum.
The trick is to get the chickens shut into the coop before nightfall. Easy Enough! Though not always.
The first hen to go wasn't exactly a hen, no, actually we had one rooster in the clutch. We didn't find this out right away, but once they grew we realized it and we gave him back to the farmer. He was a big aggressive protective rooster who liked to chase everyone (including me!) away from the hens. One gone, 4 to go.
Next we lost Puffy Head. She was a gentle Polish chicken with a plume of feathers coming out of her head. She was the easiest chicken for the boys to pick up, so in a sense she helped train them not to be afraid of the hens. Sadly, she became dinner to a racoon one night and we were left with 3.
Our neighbor gifted us with an Americana bird - a small brown chicken similar to one of ours, and we grew to 4 again. Emily, our new chicken, and Eagle, our Americana got along well and for a whole year we had a strong clutch of chickens clucking and poking around our yard. All was well in chicken land.
However this didn't last. One night we stayed out late at the local fair, and when we returned at 10 pm we knew we were in trouble. We found that another raccoon chose Scaredy Cat for dinner - our biggest chicken of all. We like to think that Scaredy Cat - who ironically was a fierce girl, ran to protect the rest of the hens and bravely gave her life for the good of the brood. There were lots of feathers and clearly the other hens were clearly traumatized. Each one of them clucked up a storm when we found them. I like to think they were telling me all about the tragedy.
After this we became ever more diligent about getting that coop door shut at night and it was a long time before we lost another hen. The next one to go was Emily. Unfortunately we were home for this horrific event and heard the racoon drag her away in the middle of the night. It was on the one and only night we ever totally forgot to shut the hen house door.
This left us with two - Freckles our big white hen, and Eagle our smaller brown hen. Freckles is social, chatty, big and clearly the dominant hen. Eagle is skittish, defers to Freckles and waits politely until Freckles has eaten before she'll approach the same food. I like to think they love each other and are great pals.
A few nights ago I had intended to go shut the hens in at about 8pm, but I got distracted doing dinner dishes and forgot. At 10pm I ran out and realized that the chickens were not in the coop. I found Freckles sitting on the grill (which is where they roost if they can't get into the coop) and I lifted her down and put her in. When I put her down, I noticed that my hand was a little bloody. I also knew that Eagle was nowhere in site and I assumed the worst. Anna and I searched the yard for Eagle and we found her safe and sound roosting on a wheelbarrow. We put Eagle in and then inspected the damage to Freckles. It's hard figuring out where a chicken is injured with all those feathers! In the end, we decided it was her foot. We think a predator took a big bite, taking off 1/2 of her toe. We brought her in and tried to clean her injured foot. We let Eagle and Freckles spend the night in our bathroom hoping that would help somehow. I have no idea how chickens heal, if they heal. They certainly can't lick their wounds like cats or dogs do. She survived the night and in the morning we put them both outside.
It's been 3 days now. Freckles is alive, but didn't come out of her coop at all yesterday. Eagle hung with her the whole day. I am not sure whether she'll just heal or if something worse will happen. So we are waiting it out. Today they both came out to eat and look around. I noticed Freckles poor toe was black - and I am hoping that is what it looks like as it heals- if it heals. We have a back-up plan if she gets worse. The plan involves a friend of ours who hunts birds and knows how to end the life of an injured bird. Not the best choice, but a good one if we need it.
Upon reflection, I know that there is no way to keep chickens 100% safe from predators, and after 6 years of keeping hens, we might decide that we've had our run as chicken keepers. If Freckles has to be put down, we'll find a friend to give Eagle to; I can't imagine she'll survive alone without her dear hen friend Freckles.
And life with chickens continues either with 2 chickens and one missing toe, or no chickens at all.
**Update on 2/22/16
Freckles is alive and well. She certainly is missing 2 of three toes - well at least 1/2 of them anyway, but this hasn't taken her down. She limps a little bit, but certainly comes out each day to eat and drink on these cold winter days.
No comments:
Post a Comment