Our neighbor Jason told me that just before daylight there'd been a commotion in the chicken coop. When he came outdoors to investigate, 16 hens, very upset, were peering into our yard. There should have been 17 hens, but one was missing. So Jason was securing the fence again.
We discussed the predator possibilities. A coyote or raccoon? No feathers lying around, indicative of a struggle. A cat? Ditto. (I knew my cat, Larisa, had been asleep on the foot of our bed at the time, so I felt some relief.) A person? "No," Jason said. "The girls are familiar with people coming around, so they wouldn't make a fuss."
I think it was a bird. An owl, maybe.
My husband Art, after he finished barbequeing, dug out a pellet gun and some other kind of weapon - I can't remember what, and really would rather not think about it - and took them over to Jason for his use just in case. I'm not sure whether Jason and Jennie are into that sort of thing, but Art's heart was in the right place.
I'll be calling over there soon to see if they still have 16 chickens.
7 comments:
Yep, somebody got a big meal out of that bird. I also suspect a large bird of some sort, since the hen was just carried away... so to speak. Something that large takes a while to consume, no matter how big the bird was...
So, what was Art barbequeing? Sorry. I just had to ask. :)
LOL, Teresa! Baby back ribs.
LOL Teresa!
This is one of those times when the comments make a really great story even better. Keeping chickens out of the talons and mouths of predators is not for the faint of heart.
Sometimes nature is cruel. As a child I remember going with my mother to the henhouse and finding chickens slaughtered. The culprit was on the scene, a skunk. He'd stuffed his entry hole with a dead chicken and trapped himself inside. Or is it possible that was a female skunk? Do girl skunks do bad things like that?
Well, Jason and Jennie were not the least bit offended by Art's treasures. =) One of them, I won't mention names, actually had a bit of a gleam in his eye. He was out there last night in his night clothes, flashlight in hand, skulking about looking for a culprit. When I asked what was going on, he mentioned that he thinks he likes those birds for more than just their eggs. Kinda cute...
BTW - Since we lost Dumpling, we have only gotten a couple of eggs a day. Until today! Our numbers are back up today. Art says the hen's have been upset. Could be.
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