There are no pictures for this post. When you start reading, you’re realize why, and thank me.
So, I posted on facebook a few days back that Lena ate one of our chickens. That wasn’t entirely accurate, as she merely attacked one of our chickens, and chased a few into the woods behind our house.
It all started when I heard David from outside yell: “Mommy! Lena’s getting the chickens!”
So I ran outside, and sure enough, Lena was chasing them all over. I quickly reprimanded her, and she hung her head in shame. I told Silje to take Lena up to her kennel. Outside play time was done for her that day. I quickly went into the coop to see how many chickens were in there. We lost one after the first day that we let the chickens roam around the yard, so I was hoping to find the 19 that were still accounted for. However, I only counted 15. I recounted about another 4 times to be sure because they were moving around a lot.
I left the coop and heard loud chicken cheeps behind by the woods. There were some chickens who had run into the underbrush of the woods for safety, and I wanted to see if I could locate any of them. Just at the edge of the woods, I found one of the yellow/white hens, a blue hamburg laying there with a bloody head, and a missing eye. It lay motionless.
As I thought it was my first confirmed dead chicken, I was angry and scared. Was I supposed to bury it? Serve it up for supper? I didn’t want to touch it. So I left it and continued to search for the other birds. I heard them chirping loudly in the underbrush of the woods, but I couldn’t see them. I was worried their chirps were so loud that it meant they were hurt too.
Then I went back in the coop to recount. Wait a minute, one big chicken had a twisted, limp foot. It was still walking, or limping. Great. Lena broke a foot too. It was a bigger one…one that would be big enough to butcher. Shoot. Have I mentioned that the idea of cleaning a chicken dead chicken scares me to death? The plucking, and organs, and blood. Ugh! At least neither bird was one of the favorites. Selena and Amara are the favorites, and they were both fine and unharmed in the coop.
As I had just ran out of the house, I thought I’d think up what to do with the dead chicken behind the coop while I cared for the little ones back inside. I’d call Knut. Maybe he’d handle the body for me. I closed up the door to the coop to keep the remaining 15 safe inside. I wasn’t in the mood to lose anymore chickens.
After the kids had gone to bed, it was nearing dusk (gotta love summer!). I brought some food outside to see if I could lure any of the chickens out of the woods. To my surprise, as I passed the hamburg’s body, I saw the bird that was blind on one side look around, get up, and go for a stroll…twitching all along the way. Knut happened to drive by in the semi truck just then, and I waved him over. I asked him what we should do. Should we kill it and put it out of its misery? Should we see how it’s doing in the morning? If we left the bloody bird out for the night it would certainly lure every predator in the area. He told me to set up a box for the bird away from the other chicks with food and water. So I did that, and was mentally thinking about garage sale-ing for old bird cages so that we could have a “sick bay” area in our coop or garage.
I showed him quickly the bird with a limp leg, and he spotted a second one with the same issue. That did not make me happy. He then said that he’s 100% certain Lena did not do that, because Conrad, the guy we ordered with from the hatchery we won’t use again said he had several chicks with what was appearing to be a defective gene for twisted toes. I did an internet search later that night and saw that it’s often caused by vitamin deficiency, although I’ve been giving the girls vitamins and electrolytes in their water. Apparently with this one breed, the hatchery had hatched a “bad batch” of birds with twisted toes.
So again, to the internet. The birds can lay just fine with twisted toes, but we shouldn’t breed them. That’s fine, because we weren’t planning to. They’ll be slower, which is bad for open range as they need the ability to run, and they may have trouble scratching for food. Most chicken owners cull these out of their flock for simplicity, and have a nice chicken dinner.
Great. So if we don’t eat these chickens, there’s a good chance some fox will because they’re the slow limpy ones.
As far as the missing ones in the woods, I called for them and laid out some food, and they came running to me within seconds. Well 2 of the 3 did. The 3rd is still missing. So including the chicken lost from a few days prior, there are now 2 chickens MIA, and one half dead. The total count has fallen to 17.5.
Now that’s it’s more than 24 hours since the incident, I keep peeking at the one who got attacked and is now resting in her own box. I’m always nervous to look in because I don’t want to peek in and see a dead bird. She walks around, twitching a bit less. She bumps into every wall of the box. I think she may be completely blind. She looks better each hour, though, so I don’t know what to think.
I’m working on getting tougher skin. I’m trying. I’m learning. I sure hope at least some of them make it to maturity so we actually get some eggs. For now, Lena won’t be outside with them anymore unless she’s right next to me. No longer will she be left alone, or with just the kids with the chickens. I still have hopes we’ll train her to protect them, but after this, I have my doubts.
As far as letting them free range, we’ve already lost 2 chickens to this. Will there be more? We didn’t budget for a little movable pen to move around the yard. Half the reason we got these birds was to rid our yard of grub and tick problems. I’m so scared to let them out of their coop now. I think my next move is to let them free range when I’m home and working in the garden, and keep them in their coop on rainy days like today…or days when I’ll be gone…for now. I’m not sure how this story will end. We’re still in the middle part.
Conrad was just by last night and exchanged 4 of his Wellsummer hens for our 3 roosters, and 1 of our Hamburg hens. The 4th one that I couldn’t tell if it was a rooster or not, he thought was a hen, so he asked if he could have one of our Hamburgs, since he didn’t have any of those, in exchange for the 4th hen he brought to trade. So now they’ll be some re-establishment of the pecking order with 4 new hens in the house and no roosters to dominate them, which will hopefully not be too rough.
I’ve been told that chicks die when you look at them funny. They’re not the brightest birds, but I’ve already fallen for them, and hope their transition from the cardboard brooder box to coop/free-ranging life gets easier. I’m also beginning to understand why many chicken keepers get new chicks often.
Mika says
June 16, 2011 at 12:23 pmHold tight Gretchen! We’re a few months further along our chicken journey than you are, so I could SO identify with some of your statements!!! We only let ours out to free range during the day (they know to come in the coop/run at night, we leave the door open), but more because we’re afraid they’ll end up in the neighbors yard lol.
In regards to Lena, give her a chance! When we first put the chickens outside, our dog managed to get in the run and chased them around in circles. She didn’t hurt any of them, but we’ve kept her on her chain ever since unless we’re RIGHT THERE (for fear she would hurt them). Twice now, we’ve woken up in the mornings to her having completely broken the chain and laying in front of the coop door peacefully. She hadn’t tried to get in the run at all, so we think that on those 2 occasions a fox had come out of the woods and she knew it was her job to keep the chickens safe so broke the line. Once Lena sees you interact more with them, and you work with her more..she’ll figure out they aren’t dinner (well, for her lol). Ours now go up to Gwen’s bowl and eat her food and drink her water and she just sniffs them lol.
Butchering-we just did our first 2 a couple weeks ago. It was not the most fun morning of my life that’s for sure!!! Tips I learned: get a couple of old traffic cones and slit their throat, don’t use a hatchet unless you’re ok with it taking more than one whack. Have Knut do the innards and such, he’s a man, that’s what their for (Kidding-kinda lol). We set up an area outside with my big canner on a portable electric burner to have the simmering water. Once they’d been dead a couple hours, I was more able to remove myself from “MY CHICKENS!!!” to “Oh, this is a chicken, it’s meat, must be plucked” if that makes sense? OK, enough of a book..sorry!
amy + ryan says
June 16, 2011 at 3:59 pmGretchen! Have you ever read “The Dun Cow” by Walt Wangerin? First of all, I loved the book. Second, the book made me fall in love with chickens even more than I already was, and seeing your soft spot for your ladies makes me think you’d enjoy the book. It’s a pretty easy read.
Anonymous says
June 16, 2011 at 6:40 pmHang in there! Have you thought (I’m sure you have) about getting some chicken wire and metal fence posts to make a temporary yard next to the coop? It’s inexpensive and kinda makeshift. Ours allowed the chickens to move in and out of the coop freely and they could also scratch in the grass for grubs and insects. At night, we’d close the door so they could only be in the coop. After allowing the chickens into their fenced yard for several weeks, we started (slowly) letting them free range during the day.
We don’t have a dog, so no experience there. Our neighbor has trouble with their dog killing chickens occassionally but has mostly trained the dog to leave the chickens alone. If the dog hurts one, they chain him outside for a day or two (normally he’s free to run) so it’s a bit of a punishment.
I think it’ll get easier for you as they get bigger!
Teresa IL
Anonymous says
June 16, 2011 at 7:24 pmI’m an old Montana farm girl, and surely don’t have access to the information that is available to you from both chicken-sources and friends, but I don’t understand why folks who want eggs aren’t using the chicken wire for simple pens for the chickens, for safety as well as for cleanliness around the house/driveway, etc. The old homesteaders (my parents and grandparents) valued free-range (they just didn’t call it that!) but they thought the safety of the chickens was a priority. It’s not just Lena…it’s coyotes and foxes and skunks and raccoons. (I guess I’ve turned into one of those old people that says, “That’s not the way we did it.”) ~~Sharon
Lisa says
June 17, 2011 at 1:31 amStick with it! Your first year will be your hardest because it is all new and you are learning through everything. You could read a dozen books and still learn more by just doing! We have 2 dogs obtained at different times and both killed chickens at first. They were scolded and did not do it again. They were taught to protect and they keep watch over them now. All of our chickens are free range, organically fed. The eggs are so much better that way and our coop stays 10X cleaner than if we were to pen them up. They go in and out on their own. We just open and close coop shoot in the morn and eve. We hardly go through any feed during the 7 mos they are able to range. We also had a couple with crooked toe. They did fine, but we did not keep them past butchering time because we do keep roosters and breed our flock. Hang in there-your kids are going to learn so much!
Nicole Spring (Frontier Dreams) says
June 17, 2011 at 5:20 amOh I look forward to following your chicken adventure! We want some so badly but we have to wait a bit longer still 🙁
Swap platform says
January 22, 2022 at 6:53 amIncredible points. Great arguments. Keep up the great effort.
Look at my web-site – Swap platform
https://daleelchristian.com says
January 30, 2025 at 5:51 pmEveгy weekend i used toо visit this wеb page, for the reason that i want
enjoyment, for the reason that this this site conatiօns actually good funny stuff too.
Take a look at my ᴡeb log :: hhack website (https://daleelchristian.com)
comment-102802 says
January 30, 2025 at 7:31 pmIt’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely
donate to this brilliant blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your
RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this blog
with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
live sabung ayam says
February 2, 2025 at 5:49 pmHi there, I found your blog by the use of Google even as looking for a related
topic, your site got here up, it seems great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hi there, simply became alert to your blog via Google, and located that it’s really informative.
I’m going to watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful
in case you continue this in future. Lots of people can be benefited
from your writing. Cheers!
sr-22 form chicago says
February 3, 2025 at 5:01 amIf you’re having a hard time the cost of SR22 insurance, look at communicating to an insurance coverage
broker for assistance. They can easily assist you locate the greatest rates for SR22 insurance.
sex trẻ em says
February 3, 2025 at 10:37 amExcellent goods from you, man. I’ve keep in mind your stuff previous to and you’re simply too wonderful.
I really like what you’ve got here, really like what you are saying and
the way in which you are saying it. You are making it enjoyable and you continue
to care for to stay it smart. I cant wait to learn much more from you.
That is actually a great site.
sex trẻ em says
February 3, 2025 at 11:08 amHi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your website in Opera, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer,
it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, very good blog!
https://kempandking.com says
February 3, 2025 at 11:36 pmYesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it
can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views.
I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
jun88 wang says
February 5, 2025 at 12:02 amMagnificent goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you are
just too great. I really like what you have acquired
here, certainly like what you are stating and the
way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to
keep it smart. I can’t wait to read much more from you.
This is actually a great web site.
https://kpu-bolmongkab.go.id/ says
February 5, 2025 at 5:21 amI believe everything said made a great deal of
sense. But, think about this, what if you wrote a catchier post title?
I ain’t suggesting your content isn’t solid, but suppose you added a headline
to possibly get folk’s attention? I mean The Epic Chicken Saga (aka long chicken post) – Gretchen Ronnevik is kinda boring.
You should look at Yahoo’s front page and note how they write article headlines to grab viewers interested.
You might add a related video or a related picture or two to get people interested about everything’ve got to
say. Just my opinion, it could bring your posts a little livelier.
sex trẻ em says
February 5, 2025 at 7:51 amI need to to thank you for this good read!! I certainly loved every bit of it.
I’ve got you book marked to look at new stuff you post…
https://789betcom.im/ says
February 6, 2025 at 10:41 amIts not my first time to go to see this web site, i am browsing this website dailly and obtain fastidious information from here every day.
find more says
February 10, 2025 at 3:26 amWhats up are using WordPress for your site platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do
you require any html coding knowledge to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
789win78 com says
February 10, 2025 at 3:30 am789WIN là nhà cái được phục vụ nhu cầu cho những ai yêu thích cá
cược trực tuyến. Hãy đi vào bài viết bên dưới đây khám phá tất tần tật về sân chơi
này.
angkanet says
February 10, 2025 at 5:14 amI don’t even understand how I ended up here, but I thought this submit was good.
I do not know who you’re but definitely you’re going to
a famous blogger in case you aren’t already. Cheers!
ai-porn.dev says
February 10, 2025 at 5:16 amValuable info. Fortunate me I found your site accidentally, and I’m surprised why this twist
of fate didn’t came about in advance! I bookmarked it.
1win ios says
February 10, 2025 at 5:17 amWow that was strange. I just wrote an really long comment but after I
clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just
wanted to say excellent blog!
ai-porn.top says
February 10, 2025 at 5:17 amI have been surfing on-line greater than 3 hours these days,
yet I never found any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It’s pretty worth sufficient for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the
web shall be much more useful than ever before.
789win plus says
February 10, 2025 at 5:18 am789Win là nhà cái trực tuyến uy tín #1 Việt Nam, có hơn 40 sảnh trò chơi Nổ hũ,
Bắn cá, Casino, Thể thao…. Cùng nhiều khuyến mãi
và hệ thống bảo mật cao.
slot online says
February 10, 2025 at 5:19 amNice answers in return of this query with genuine arguments and explaining the
whole thing on the topic of that.
ai-porn.cam says
February 10, 2025 at 6:19 amDoes your blog have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but,
I’d like to send you an email. I’ve got some suggestions
for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great
site and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
aipornfrench.com says
February 10, 2025 at 6:40 amIt’s in point of fact a nice and useful piece of info.
I’m satisfied that you simply shared this useful information with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
ai-porn.today says
February 10, 2025 at 8:16 amI’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high quality
articles or blog posts in this kind of house . Exploring in Yahoo
I finally stumbled upon this site. Studying this information So i am
satisfied to show that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I came
upon just what I needed. I most no doubt will make sure to don?t fail to
remember this web site and give it a look on a constant basis.
anime News says
February 10, 2025 at 9:11 amYou actually make it appear so easy together with your presentation however I find this topic to be really
one thing which I believe I would by no means understand.
It seems too complicated and extremely wide for me.
I’m taking a look forward on your next put up, I’ll attempt to
get the cling of it!