Here they are this morning, just so you know...
Yesterday a hawk attacked Lydia. I was in the house when I heard a scream. I ran out to find her lying motionless near the coop I thought for sure she was dead. A hawk was trying to get away but could not quite spread his wings properly. He ended up floundering between the fence and the dog crate which is still out there. I came to within about six feet of him ready to do him a serious harm. But he managed to untangle himself before I got to him. Lucky hawk, for I was full of righteous indignation at that moment and would most likely have removed his head.
I turned around to see Lydia struggling to get up, blood dripping from a wound in her neck. She staggered around the corner, looking for her chicks. I followed her. In the far corner of the run Ms. Amber and Miss Jane huddled in front of one of the chicks. I ran into the house to get the Blu-Kote to dress Lydia's wound which was still dripping blood. When I came back out there was no sight of the other two chicks. As I followed Lydia around trying to get her to hold still a minute so I could dab her wound, the second chick wiggled out from under the coop. OH! there you are!
I finally got the medicine on Lydia and then started to look for the last chick. I was frantic. Then it dawned on me. Where is Little Miss???? I ran all over the chicken yard, and looked in the coop… no Little Miss! No, no, no, no, no…. that's all I could say. I did one more sweep of the run, and then went back into the coop. I looked behind the box that the hens use to get up on the roost, and there was Little Miss squeezed behind it. I lifted her out talking in my best soothing voice. She is the most skittish hen because she is at the bottom of the pecking order and spends a lot of time dodging everyone's ill tempers. So I don't get to hold her very often. She's hard to catch and I don't want to distress her. But yesterday she let me hold her and give her hugs as long as I wanted to.
Then I went on the search for the last chick, who was the little buff colored one. She was under the coop afraid to come out. After a lot of fussing from Lydia going in and out of the coop, the little one finally decided to join everyone else.
All the hens went into the coop on their own, and I closed up the doors. They are not used to being in there for anything but sleeping or laying an egg.
I was a wreck.
I'm still kind of a wreck.
They have stayed in the coop all day so far. I have the little door open if they want to come out, but they aren't ready and I'm glad. I don't want to lock them in, but I'm glad they are staying out of sight.
Mr. P came over a little while ago to discuss what we might do to put up a partial wire roof on the run. This will take some time and thought. They will be vulnerable… well, they always have been I guess,...until we figure that out and implement it.
This is the really hard part about having animals. Things happen to them, especially chickens. Everything wants to eat the chickens. It's hard to try to be stoic about it. I have friends who have chickens that were wiped out overnight by skunks or raccoons or weasels. I don't know how you recover from that, but they do. They get more chickens and carry on. I'm gonna have to get a tougher skin I can see that right now.
Yesterday a hawk attacked Lydia. I was in the house when I heard a scream. I ran out to find her lying motionless near the coop I thought for sure she was dead. A hawk was trying to get away but could not quite spread his wings properly. He ended up floundering between the fence and the dog crate which is still out there. I came to within about six feet of him ready to do him a serious harm. But he managed to untangle himself before I got to him. Lucky hawk, for I was full of righteous indignation at that moment and would most likely have removed his head.
I turned around to see Lydia struggling to get up, blood dripping from a wound in her neck. She staggered around the corner, looking for her chicks. I followed her. In the far corner of the run Ms. Amber and Miss Jane huddled in front of one of the chicks. I ran into the house to get the Blu-Kote to dress Lydia's wound which was still dripping blood. When I came back out there was no sight of the other two chicks. As I followed Lydia around trying to get her to hold still a minute so I could dab her wound, the second chick wiggled out from under the coop. OH! there you are!
I finally got the medicine on Lydia and then started to look for the last chick. I was frantic. Then it dawned on me. Where is Little Miss???? I ran all over the chicken yard, and looked in the coop… no Little Miss! No, no, no, no, no…. that's all I could say. I did one more sweep of the run, and then went back into the coop. I looked behind the box that the hens use to get up on the roost, and there was Little Miss squeezed behind it. I lifted her out talking in my best soothing voice. She is the most skittish hen because she is at the bottom of the pecking order and spends a lot of time dodging everyone's ill tempers. So I don't get to hold her very often. She's hard to catch and I don't want to distress her. But yesterday she let me hold her and give her hugs as long as I wanted to.
Then I went on the search for the last chick, who was the little buff colored one. She was under the coop afraid to come out. After a lot of fussing from Lydia going in and out of the coop, the little one finally decided to join everyone else.
All the hens went into the coop on their own, and I closed up the doors. They are not used to being in there for anything but sleeping or laying an egg.
I was a wreck.
I'm still kind of a wreck.
They have stayed in the coop all day so far. I have the little door open if they want to come out, but they aren't ready and I'm glad. I don't want to lock them in, but I'm glad they are staying out of sight.
Mr. P came over a little while ago to discuss what we might do to put up a partial wire roof on the run. This will take some time and thought. They will be vulnerable… well, they always have been I guess,...until we figure that out and implement it.
This is the really hard part about having animals. Things happen to them, especially chickens. Everything wants to eat the chickens. It's hard to try to be stoic about it. I have friends who have chickens that were wiped out overnight by skunks or raccoons or weasels. I don't know how you recover from that, but they do. They get more chickens and carry on. I'm gonna have to get a tougher skin I can see that right now.