Captured!

They just look guilty, don't they?

So our gentle flock spent a relaxing day in the coop all day Saturday. Saturday night, Jason re-baited the critter trap with a proven mix of sardines and moon pies. Sunday morning: Surprise! Not one, but TWO rather small raccoons, looking very guilty, were hunkered down in the trap.

A reckoning...

Do they know? I wonder how much their tiny brains really understand?

Joe and Nick were very curious about the raccoons and we decided to tell them the whole story about what had happened Friday night. They were a bit down, but as I explained that at first we thought three chickens had been taken, and then we found two, including Snaggletooth, and Joe was very relieved. They really seemed to take the news well. I do think it helped that the one that was lost hadn't been one we had named. I described her to Joe, however, and he did know which one I was talking about. It was a little difficult, but I don't think he's scarred. I think in some way it's good for us as humans to have a detachment from animals. It doesn't mean we don't treat them well and care for them as best we know how, but these are really farm animals, livestock, and they are around us to provide food and sustenance for our family.

The boys helped us coax the girls from the coop, and Joe promptly picked several up and gave them hugs. He is better than any of us at grabbing them quickly and carefully, and they are so patient with him!

Joe and Shortie

Nick and Snaggletooth

Nick trying to catch another chicken

Joe is so gentle with the girls

So there have been no further incidents. We baited the trap again Sunday night in case there were any other predators stalking around, but Monday morning the trap was clear. We are working off the assumption at this point that we have removed the offending attackers and we will hopefully be okay for a while. Joe and Jason let the raccoons loose about 5 miles away at a state park just north of our home.

Predation of our Flock

The summer of chickens has really gone remarkably well. The pullets are 20 weeks old on Monday, and are likely just 2-3 weeks from laying their first eggs! Jason has completed the nesting boxes, and they are now attached to the side of the coop. The boxes were constructed with a top hatch for adults to get to the eggs, as well as a child-height latched door that the kids will be able to use to collect eggs.

As the excitement of that day approaches, another eventuality is forcing us to think about our coop and fencing and overall security of our flock. Normally Jason posts, but today, I wanted to write my thoughts on the events that started last night.

Sadly, something (as yet unidentified, but we think most likely a cat) attacked our chickie-babies last night, which resulted in two MIA's and one wounded. On Friday night when I went out to lower the coop door and secure the girls for the evening, I very quickly came upon a mass of feathers in the yard. Either the hens were fighting or they were already starting to moult, OR, uh-oh, something had attacked.

Moving quickly to the coop, I counted only 7 hens. Securing the door, and taking a quick look around for any sign of a chicken dinner, I went in to get Jason and flashlights. Together we scouted around for a sign of any of the hens, and we were surprised to find one of the girls tangled in some vines near the fence behind the coop. She was so still, and there was blood dripping from her neck. We first thought she was dead, but as I reached toward her, her eyes moved and we realized she was breathing. I picked her up and didn't notice any other injuries, so we took another quick look around for the other two, then took the injured bird in the house to check her out more closely and clean her up.

Jason went out to continue looking and saw a cat around the side of the house. We never see cats in our yard, so it seemed too coincidental. We have now set a trap out to catch it. Back inside, upon closer inspection, we found the blood on the back of the injured girl's neck. We assumed at first that it was from puncture wounds from a bite, but we wonder now if perhaps she hadn't injured herself when she got caught in the vines, likely when trying to escape the attacking animal. We rinsed her off with fresh water and sprayed some antibacterial and pain reducing spray on her, then applied pressure for about 20 minutes. Thinking she might be far more relaxed in the secured coop with her hen buddies, we took her back outside. Based on some reading we have done that says that sometimes chickens will attack a weak or injured hen in the flock, we made sure that no blood was visible on her feathers. We have read that the redness of the blood can set the other chickens off.

We then spent about another 30 minutes scouring the yard for any sign of the other two. The only other things we found were some blood on the side of the house (we wiped it off so the kids wouldn't see it), and an area near our back gate where there was another mass of loose feathers where it seemed the chicken(s) had been yanked out into the wilderness of outside our fenceline. Jason wire-tied some additional fencing over the gate to close up any holes to help keep other critters out. Oddly, we also found a mass of feathers by the front gate of our house, underneath our kitchen window. We wonder if this is where the attack began, or if there is another explanation.

We were really frustrated about the situation. Not just because we had likely lost two chickens, but because we really are digging on this idea of providing some of our own food for our family that we know comes from healthy, free-range chickens, and dangit now we had lost 20% of our production! Of course, we were very hopeful that while the chase was likely pretty intense, that the actual death was swift. There's really no telling though, and I guess that's just part of the violence of nature. We went to bed hopeful that the other two girls were roosting up high in the trees and we would see them again the next day.

Saturday morning, I went outside to check on the trap and look for more "clues" and amazingly, the hen we call "Snaggletooth" came strutting across the yard. After a basic inspection, she appeared unharmed and in good health. We decided to leave the girls in the coop for the day, just until we could do more research, and maybe get another night's chance to catch a cat in our trap.

Saturday afternoon, I went out to do a hard-target search for the last missing bird, and took the pictures shown here. There was also a good number of feathers under the coop door, which may indicate that was where the attack began, or maybe the hen had made a run for the safety of the coop, only to be caught before getting inside. It may also be that these feathers accumulate in this area simply because all the chickens come and go through this entrance several times a day. Inspection of the area in the yard where the large pile of feathers was revealed nothing new. There was no blood to be found, but the feathers seemed to trail off into a depression in the earth behind a row of shrubs we have. Finally in this area, there were two bunches of feathers with flesh and blood and a small bone attached. I bagged this up so as to hopefully avoid attracting other predators to the scent. Searching all around the rest of the yard, then searching outside the fenceline, I tried to follow the continued trail of feathers, but after another 25 feet, was unable to find any further clues of where the last chicken may have been taken. Surely at this point, we can assume she is dead, but we would still like to find the carcass, again, hopefully to avoid attracting other predators.

Having thought from the beginning that we had lost three chickens, having lost only one, we feel pretty fortunate. When we ordered our ten chicks in April, we hoped that we would end up with at least six layers, so I suppose we are still better off than we had hoped at this stage. We just have to determine the best course of action to protect our remaining flock.

The injured lass seems fine today. The others don't seem to be picking on her and she is otherwise behaving normally. We would do well to monitor the wounds and we'll have to keep an eye on her for signs of infection.

The gal we lost was one of the few we haven't named. She was the first to develop a pretty comb on top of her head, which kind of made her seem like the big sister of the flock. We are saddened she won't be part of our laying flock, but we will learn from the experience and will do our best to protect the rest of our young ladies.