And Another One?...

So OK, I let all the chickens out of their coop a couple of days ago for two hours.  Two hours! When I went to herd them all back in, my little australorp was missing.  *Sigh* not another one!  I searched and searched for her up in the trees, under shrubs, in the next door neighbor's yard and finally concluded that the fox had carried her off. The new chickies are still small and would be easy pickings for a fox.

Anyway, this small, young un-named hen was gone and I couldn't believe that I'd been so irresponsible to let this happen.  I really liked her. I'd picked her up earlier in the day to admire her pretty feathers and took note of how calm she was.  She also has a habit of wandering away from the rest of the group which isn't always a good idea.

This little hen was on my mind much of the day.  I felt like a terrible chicken mom and I even thought I should find homes for my chickies since I can't seem to protect them very well.

Later that afternoon a most delightful occurrence.  I walked out my front door to find leaves and dirt and all kinds of debris on my front porch steps and walkway.  It startled me at first, then puzzled for 10 seconds more seconds more and then... I realized - a chicken did that!  I started looking under the bushes and behind plants and then I heard little chicken noises.  There she was!  That darn little australorp was poking around the front yard doing her business.  I was so relieved - and happy.  I scooped her up, tucked her under my arm and scolded her for running off and spending the night who knows where!

That's her, the runaway in the center looking to the left

Anyway, a Freecycler man that had come by earlier to pick up some plants, had come across her scratching around.  He said that it kind of freaked him out.  He said that he sat down on the steps and watched her, wondering what to do and finally just left thinking that it must be normal to have a little hen poking around in that front yard.

I guess it IS normal now.

And Another One Down...

This has not been a happy summer for my chickens.  Last night I lost another hen, this time my largest and in charge Chicky-Licky.  Everything was fine with her and the other chickens when I let them out into their enclosed area this morning.  They were all fine when I herded them back into their coop after having the local fox run in front of my car and head in the direction of my backyard.  There the chickens stayed all afternoon in the heat.  I turned on the mister for them and when I left for the evening and gave them their last bit of scratch, everyone, including Chicky-Licky was present and accounted for.

Chicky-Licky running free.

I was awakened abruptly at 1:30am to a terrible growling and squealing noise in the backyard grass area and looked out to see the shadowy figure of a raccoon. Raccoon!  Ack!  I quickly ran out and checked on the chickens and counted everyone -  checked the perimeter of the coop and all was well.  But Chicky Licky wasn't on her perch.   I could see her in one of the laying boxes which wasn't where she'd normally sleep.  I went in to check on her and she was gone.

I'm relieved that she wasn't a raccoon victim but what had happened?  She hadn't shown any signs of illness and she'd just layed a perfect egg the day prior. Whatever had happened, she'd gone into the laying box and had died there.  So, there I was digging another hole in my yard at 2am.

I sat outside on the patio thinking after she was buried.  Would the raccoons come back tonight?  What had happened to her?  I'll need to notify her next of kin, Libby, my nephew's girl.  Libby had given her to me about a year ago and she had fit right in as one of the hens at the top of the pecking order.  She even stepped into Mr. Peeper's role when he was killed, in alerting the other hens as to food sources with a distinctive sharp clucking noise.  Yes, she was a little aggressive to the new young hens but she was excused due to her being raised with dogs as her fellow chicken companions and, she was beginning to ease up.

I brought out the trap and set it with cat food for bait and then sat listening for about an hour to the night sounds,  hearing leaves rustle and twigs break hoping that I might catch another raccoon.  Finally, a dark shape appeared by one of the raised beds but it was only Kitty Black, the outdoor cat.   There is a lot of activity in my yard at night and I'm thinking about setting up a wildlife camera.

Well... it's 3:30am and I can't go back to sleep.  I'll miss you Chicky-Licky, like I miss all my sweet hens.

Hello New Feathered Friends!

Mr. Peeper and two of my hens are gone - Carmela Brown and Cheddar.  So is the raccoon that killed them, trapped and turned loose into a wild habitat that is miles from homes or someone else's chickens.  Mr. Peeper was buried in the backyard along with several others that have met with urban predators over the last few years and I know that he would approve of becoming a part of the yard he loved to roam.  

A very unhappy raccoon

The "survivors" Sylvia, Chicky-Licky and Layla have taken it in stride (after all they are hard core chickens) and went on with the usual scratching and poking around. Layla was on the receiving end of the older hens authority and she took to hiding and keeping to herself so of course, I needed to remedy THAT situation by bringing in a couple of new hens. 

Evan loving Layla

Perfect timing.  My oldest grandson Evan, weighing in at 6 years, 11 months, had come to visit from Colorado, so we made a trip to Robin's house in Calimesa after seeing her "chickens for sale" ad in CheapCycle.  Robin has close to an acre for her chicken endeavors so we had many to choose from.  I could not resist when she mentioned the young male that would grow into a huge rooster and how even-tempered and beautiful he would be.  I scooped him up and cradled him in my arm. He comes with the guarantee that if he doesn't work out, I can return him.  Evan had the honor of picking out a couple of pretty girls, an Australorp and Rhode Island Red and will help name them as we get to know them. 

This new young male will be a handsome rooster soon

So home we went with three new, young chickens in the carrier.  Evan already had many names ready but we'll still wait on that.  Here's the surprise though.  Just a few hours later, after we'd situated the young hens in their pen and after a period of loving and holding by Evan, I received a phone call from a friend.  "Nadine?  This is Greg.  Do you still have chickens?  I found a couple down at the park.  They look like they need a home.  They're friendly and they're hungry and thirsty."  (Sigh), they are Rhode Island Reds and I decided immediately that I could figure out how to fit them in. 

Reds are one of my favorite chickens.  They are consistent layers with a sweet disposition.  They seem to have distinct personalities and I just love them.  Within the hour the group of three became the gang of five which is important.  When introducing new chickens to a coop, there is safety in numbers.  After a couple of days, the two newcomers have assimilated with the three and have a much better chance of staying clear of mother hen Chicky-Licky who takes it upon herself to dole out discipline and establish her pecking order at the scratch of foot.  

Why in fact, Ms. Chicky-Licky took no time in filling in Mr. Peeper's role of keeping her compadres in line and pointing out possible food sources with a rooster-type chucking sound.  I don't know, I'm beginning to wonder about her.  As for the other fully grown hens, they tend to bully the young'uns just a bit but now, because they are FIVE, they have less harassment and more scratching time.

Chicky-Licky asserts her authority over the new chickies

As I write, the newbies are roaming the penned in yard area, opening them up to the danger of predators of all sorts.  While this can be devastating to the human owner as well as the chicken - it gives them a quality of life that makes us all happy.  When several chickens are concentrated in a coop, it gets dirty very quickly and the bug population they so love is limited having been exhausted due to the small area.  I take comfort in their ability to run and scratch, take dirt baths and discover new places to turn the soil over and over again.  Their poo makes excellent compost and they eat the fallen fruit from the trees.  They are happy chickens and happy chickens lay beautifully delicious eggs.

So, welcome my new feathered ones.  We'll be asking for name suggestions soon and we'll be looking for YOU to stop by and see us and perhaps become a chicken lover.   I'd love to add YOU to my Chicken Love page so stop by and hold a chicken soon!

In order of appearance:  Buffy, Mr. Peeper and Rojacita.  My Colorado chickies - may they rest in peace in their backyard home free of fear, always well fed and may they never need to cross another road, ever.

Good Bye my Feathered Friends

The  last few days have been hard.  Two hens and my rooster Peeper are gone (that's him in the picture to the right as a youngster).  The culprits left too much evidence.  I know who they are.

I won't go into the gory details other than to say that I found the lifeless, torn up bodies of Carmela Brown and Cheddar strewn about their run.  The three youngest of my hens had recently had their wings clipped to keep them from flying over the fence and into my garden.  It also left them helpless in the face of a predator attack. I dug a hole by the fuji apple tree and called my friend to come help.  I couldn't face the carnage.

Layla (in front), Carmela Brown and Cheddar

The remaining flock seemed shook up.  My young hen Layla didn't have her two companions so she hung close to Rooster Peeper. Sylvia and Chicky Licky seemed to take it in stride but Peeper was jumpy and took to falling backward.  I kept them locked safely in their coop of reinforced chainlink and field fencing during the day.  I just couldn't take any chances.  The killers were loose and they could come back.  I also didn't know what I was up against either.  Was it a fox (we'd seen them but not for over a year); could it be the big possum or even a stray dog?  I'd found scat in the middle of the grass riddled with fig seeds.  Was it a raccoon?  In the 50+ years that I'd spent connected to this house, no one had ever seen a raccoon, not ever... until I asked my next door neighbor Shae and he told me that yes, he'd seen a raccoon in his back yard.  His dog had run it off.  How long ago?  He thought it'd been about 6 months back.

Their coop was completely enclosed except for a small opening at the top between roof and garage wall where it's located and I'd lined the bottom with pavers dug into the ground and then the fencing had been placed on the inside of the pavers.  It was pretty secure... or so I thought.

The outer coop which had been reinforced
 with smaller mesh 3 feet high

Last night I checked on them before my bedtime.  It was about 11pm and all was well. Everyone left was roosting comfortably for the night.  I was satisfied they were secure. Then, morning came early.  I was up before the light to open the windows and doors to let the cool air flow through the house.  I heard some early morning hen clucking like they do when they are laying but Peeper had mostly stopped crowing in the mornings, so I thought nothing of it when he didn't cut loose.  When it was time to take out their morning snack of chopped up cucumber peels and strawberry tops, I stopped in horror at their coop gate.

It wasn't possible! Yet there was my Peeper lying mangled and dead in the outer coop. The three remaining hens were with him unharmed but keeping their distance and there was no sight of who had done this.  Looking closer, I could see that he was attacked in the inner coop and dragged to the outer one.  I quickly isolated my hens away from the corpse and called my friend again.

The clean up wasn't as intense.  The killer had been interrupted because there weren't many feathers strewn around and Peeper was mostly intact.  It was horrible to see and think about.  I let my friend do the clean up while I headed out to an appointment and work.  I couldn't believe that something had gotten into the reinforced coop but then, there was the space at the top - the weak spot.

Peeper, large and in charge

After coming home later that morning, I surveyed the coop. There had been a huge pile of scat in the outer coop left by the killer and the same scat had been dropped several days prior during the first killings.  There had also been several piles of the same in the grass close by.  By then I was pretty sure that it was a raccoon but no one had seen one EXCEPT my next door neighbor.  Well, ok. He could be right... and he was.  I found tracks; very clear tracks and the fact that they are known chicken killers sealed the decision.  It all added up to a raccoon or raccoons.

Later that day, my brother came and sealed up the space and my friend and I set about reinforcing the rest of the fencing top and sides.  I'm sleeping with my window open and the fan off so I can hear any noises... Hopefully tomorrow I'll have found a trap.  They won't stop.  They'll keep coming back.  Raccoons are relentless. So I need to be too.  If I can trap it ( or them), I'll take it far enough away that it won't make it back.  That's the plan today.  Raccoons - it's on!

Farewell my fine feathered friend ~
So glad I got to know you and love you.