Something Out There

Something out there is taking my chickens.  2 nights ago we lost a few more.  We were down to 12, but one black one (our last black one) returned from the woods yesterday.  They also took Gimpy, our lame chicken, which isn’t a big surprise.  Frankly, I’m surprised she lasted this long.

We’re down to 13, and so I’m thinking about what we should do at this point.  I didn’t leave the coop open all night this last time.  I just didn’t close it right at sundown.  Sundown used to be around supper time, which was easy to do.  Now sundown is as I’m reading to Silje and David at night.  It’s tricky to remember at bedtime because there is so much going on.  It’s never been a big problem to just close it before I go to bed. 

What happened was I finished reading, I was sipping some tea to relax as I was figuring out what to do next.  Lena’s ears perked and she ran to the door barking.  We all know Lena never barks unless there is something very wrong going on.  She and I ran outside and sure enough, I saw by the light of the yard light, feathers scattered everywhere, about 15 feet in front of the coop.  It wasn’t just loose feathers.  It was clumps, and clumps of feathers.  My heart sank.  I hoped it was only one chicken.  I quickly checked the chicken coop, although it was too dark to do a head count at that time, I wanted to make sure nothing was in there.  Then I shut them in for the night.  I couldn’t have been more than an hour late.  This predator was getting more bold.

When Knut let the chickens out the next morning, he counted only 12, and gave me the report of who was missing.  The kids were really upset about Gimpy.  David especially since she was his personal favorite.  She was the easiest to catch, so she was carried around the yard by them most often.  I was most upset about my “Rubies.”  (My nickname for the black ones.)

So I’m thinking of short term and long term changes.  Long term is that we’re supposed to be ordering our meat birds (once Knut settles on the breed.  We can’t seem to settle on the traditional broilers that everyone gets because we’re worried about them forging for food properly.  Birds bred for the purpose of being so huge they can’t walk when they’re full grown may not be helpful for pasture.)  The meat birds will be in a movable tractor.  Making a secondary tractor for the layers is definitely on the table.

We knew we’d lose birds this summer.  We were actually planning on it.  Many of our friends go through 15 birds a year easy.  When we got 20, we planned on 5 not surviving as chicks, but all 20 did.  When they first went free range, we were planning on losing up to 5.  We lost 3.  However, now we’re down to 12, and that’s not a terrible place for our family size, but I’d like to stay ahead of the curve, rather than behind.  I’m thinking that when we order our meat birds, I’ll add about 10 more layers to the order because it’s tough to order less than 20 birds, but since the meat bird order is large, it won’t be hard to add on.  (Birds survive the shipping better when they can be kept warm by other birds.  When you order few, your survival rate is lower.)

The 10 new ones won’t lay for several months, but they will be good replacements to have in rotation.  Knut wants to get a rooster instead.  I’m fighting that idea at this point.  Having to candle eggs to look for chicks would be added to my daily routine.  Plus roosters and kids are known to not be friends, and I particularly picked breeds that were not broody for the kids, and I’m not convinced our sweet girls will make the best mothers.  They’re not protective of their eggs in the least.

Of course, if we were to get a rooster, the hens would raise the chicks, not us.  That’s one less thing to do as well.  However, chicks are fun, aren’t they?  At least I think so.  If I already have to take care of broiler chicks, I can take care of laying chicks too.

Until we decide on the movable tractor for layers, which we are mutually both for and against simultaneously, I’m thinking a quick fix might be putting Lena in the yard after supper, and not bringing her in until I’ve shut the chickens in.  She’ll be outside to guard during that sketchy dusk time that has proven dangerous for our coop.  She has barked and made a scene from the inside every time one of our chickens was taken, or anytime something has gnawed on the door of the coop.  She just hasn’t got outside fast enough these last 2 times.  (The first time when we lost 1, the second time we lost 3.)

She’s going to hate being outside for those few hours, but I think that will be my quick fix.  She’s going to have to come to terms that she is a farm dog, and has a job to do.