The Chickens Were Nervous This Morning!

The week has started off on an anxious note. The chickens were nervous this morning. A hawk lurking in the yard landed on the pool umbrella stand about 100 feet from the coop and stayed there for some time. No doubt he's hungry and thought breakfast chicken would be a good start to the day. Larry was opening up the coop when he saw him. 

We don't let the chicks out to free range until late afternoon because of predators. They roam the screened chicken yard during the day. Apparently their nerves upset them enough this morning that they ignored the treat Larry brought and hunkered down under the coop. 

The last time they were in the yard and a hawk came, I was looking out the window and immediately went out and chased him away. That day the chickens hid in the bushes not willing to risk being out in the open. I had a hard time coaxing them out and back into the coop even as Twilight descended. Fear of the hawk is the beginning of wisdom for a chicken.

Life is valuable, even the life of a chicken!

One of my chickies is sick. At first I thought Flapper was getting broody because I'd find her in the nesting box. But her behavior wasn't normal for a broody chicken. She wasn't puffing up and acting aggressive; she was acting...well...sick. 

Time Out for the Camp Kreitzer Clown Circus!

Chickens in...

We forgot to close up the chicken coop last night. This morning our little flock were all out and about roaming the yard. A quick head count found all eight well and accounted for.

I'm thanking our Camp Kreitzer guardians, St. Michael and St. Joseph for keeping the foxes and the raccoons away last night. A fox will take one off, but raccoons will kill them all even those he doesn't eat.

So the problem, since we are going out later: How to get them all back into the safety of the coop?

I proceeded to use bribery. I went to get a container full of chicken treat. When I came out of the house and started to shake the container with their treat, they come running. I always feel like the Pied Piper when I bring them their treats. And they followed me enthusiastically into their pen...except for one holdout, Pepper, who stopped at the door and decided freedom was better than treats. I tried to coax her in, but gave up after awhile and went back in the house.

Pro-Aborts are the Real Dumb Clucks!

One of my chickens died last night, the first loss except for the one who ended up in the Fox's tummy as a teenager. We don't know why Bonnie died, perhaps she was egg bound. Whatever the cause, I'll really miss her. I posted this on my Grandma blog today. 

Poor Bonnie died during the night. For the past few days she's been acting oddly -- didn't want to come out of the coop, limped a bit, seemed to be feeling bad. I picked her up and petted her. she was extra docile. Bonnie was my favorite chickie, so I’m sad today. Silly, I suppose, to cry over a chicken, but I really loved her.

Sunday Meditation: You Can Learn a Lot of Things from the Chickies!

 

When life seems to be running off the rails like a train wreck, it’s a good time to focus on homely things – like chickens! I wanted chickens for years. We moved to the country in 2002, have plenty of room, and, hey!, eggs are Biblical. “What father will give his child a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” My husband wasn’t enthusiastic about the idea of raising chicks, so for years I lobbied and he just laughed and shook his head. Ah, but persistence pays. He asked me what I wanted for my 75th birthday last March. I didn’t miss a beat. “CHICKENS!” How could he refuse?

So we began the grand chicken adventure. We bought six little pullet chicks and I set them up in a Rubbermaid bin in our garage with a lamp, a feeder, and a water dispenser. The grandkids were charmed and named the chickens. Sadly, one, Raptor, died so Larry went back to Tractor Supply and bought me four more bringing us to nine. As they grew, the children and I took them on “field trips” in the yard to let them experience the world and get socialized by being picked up and petted. Meanwhile, my husband, like the good carpenter St. Joseph, built me a coop. We transitioned them to their new home and they settled in.