Sidebar Widget

not a good week

Sometimes amidst the beauty, wonder and entertainment factor of this farm, up pops frustration and misery…the kind that makes you put off the walk out to the barn in the morning for fear of what you’ll find. The kind that can make you dissolve into a weeping lump followed by primal rage. That’s the kind of week it’s been.

Bad Chicken – not afraid of the snow!

Handsome Mr Bad Chicken

Our long standing and beloved group of free ranging chickens have been completely picked off by a predator. Amongst them our oldest gal, Bad Chicken, who we had begun to think of as indestructible. And her man, Mr Bad Chicken. Clara the Wonder Chicken succumbed to her injuries last night…poor baby. In all, five hens and their rooster…gone after several years together.

Clara the Wonder Chicken – a beautiful Buckeye

 

Ameraucana members of the TDU.

We tried to keep them safe once we realized what was going on, but this was a hard group to corral. They existed because they’d “flown the coop” and they lived the good life of total freedom…choosing where they’d go…sometimes even visiting our neighbors’ bird feeders…and roosting where they wanted to at the end of the day. Our efforts weren’t very successful.

There’s a very different feel here now. No greeters when we walk out the door. The voice of Mr Bad Chicken is missing. They were a terrific Tick Removal Unit and they entertained us with the occasional egg hunt.

All very sad, but we have to be thankful for the memories.

Moving on, we turn our attention to the remaining chickens behind the electric fencing and making sure those fences are ramped up. It’s not unusual for predators to surface at this time of year as they get ready for migration or turning in for it the winter. I’m just saying, not excusing. We’ll be watching…

 

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