Our first casualty...

When keeping chickens, you need to prepare for predators. What carnivore wouldn't want to eat a fresh, tasty chicken? Despite my fencing and the layout of my coop, we lost our first chicken yesterday.

I noticed, around 4pm, that none of the chickens appeared to be outside of the coop. I thought this meant I had some more eggs to gather, since we have been getting at least 2 eggs a day.

I went out our back door and walked to the coop, and stepped into the penned area. As soon as I entered, a hawk flew from underneath the coop as fast as it could right past me and up into the trees behind the house and barn. My first thought was that it was one of the hens, but I've never seen one of my hens fly that fast. As soon as I saw Ginger, lying on her back, legs up in the air in the corner under the coop, I knew immediately that it was a hawk that had flown by me. Yet I went to her body with the hope she was still alive. If I had only been 10 minutes earlier in checking the chickens...

Earlier that morning, Ginger had jumped up on the corner of the fence and was just sitting there, ready to fly out. I ran outside and gently prompted her to go back in. I assume she did the same later that afternoon, and while sitting there, the young hawk swooped in and took her by surprise.

RIP poor Ginger...

Cluckers and Dixie were inside the coop, cowering, silently. Killer, was nowhere to be found. My first thoughts at that point were this - the hawk got Killer as well. There was no sign of a struggle, and none of Killer's feathers; only the large scattered pile of Ginger's feathers.

I headed out towards the barn, and out into the woods, as I saw the hawk flying up in the tree-tops, just waiting for the coast to clear so it could go back and finish its meal. As I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw the back-end of Killer underneath our Christmas tree that I had taken out back and propped up in the snow. I called her name, yet there was no movement, not even a gentle cluck. "Oh no," I thought, "Killer was attacked too!" Killer never made a sound as I went to pick her up. Good news! Killer is alive! She had flown under the tree and was being as quiet and as still as she could. My breath let out in a relieved sigh. I didn't even know I was holding it. I brought her back to the coop and shut her inside. I also found two warm eggs... the last pair of eggs from Killer and Ginger laid before the brutal attack.

Today, I went out and bought some bird netting. It is light, black mesh, with square openings about 1/2 inch length and width each. It is made to cover plants in the summer, etc., to prevent fruit or vegetables from being eaten by the birds. It took me an hour and a half, but the coop, and its penned in area is now covered by this bird netting. From only a few feet away, the netting is almost invisible. The coop is now protected from above and the sides from any swooping hawk.

I had tried to plan as best as I could for any predator that might fancy a tasty chicken for a snack. I was told that this hawk was probably a juvenile and too dumb to realize the danger to itself by flying directly into the coop. Stupid as it was, our poor chicken still didn't make it.

Sweet Ginger. We will miss you.

Two Chicks a Laying

Just an update on the egg situation. I went out and checked for eggs and found 2 in the nest today. One was much smaller and speckled. Since Dixie is our smallest hen, I knew who the mother was right away.

Hurray for Chickens! They are starting to earn their keep 'round here.

Dallas Giants

I don't think I've mentioned the Dallas Giants in this blog yet. (I guess I could use my search box at the top here and search my blog to be sure. I'll leave that to you guys.) I'm mentioning them as I am a transplant from Texas to New England. Well, I'm not really sure what I am. I lived in Massachusetts for 13 years before moving to Texas, and then came back. But I was born in Iowa. I guess I am a New South-Mid-Westerner. Regardless, I watched the Dallas Cowboys in the 80's-90's while living in Massachusetts. Then, by the time I ended up in Texas, the Troy Aikman, Emmett Smith days were pretty much over, and the Cowboys were back to a barely there team. The 2007 season has proven that Tony Romo and Terrell Owens, and Joseph Addai have helped to make this Cowboys team another contender. New York is playing them right now in the play-offs. I hope Dallas wins, only because I would love to see a New England Patriots vs. Dallas Cowboys Superbowl. Right now it's tied at 7. Oh, and Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo??? Celebrity news? Sheesh... give me a break!

17-0 and Chicken scratch

I stayed up to finish the game. Patriots won (no doubt here) 31-20. Today, the Chargers beat the Colts (YES!!!!!!)! That means the Chargers play the Patriots next week, on Sunday. 18-0, here we come.

Today was a beautiful sunny day... until 3:30pm or so. The clouds started to roll in. It has barely snowed this January, but tonight and tomorrow the snow is supposed to come full force. Up to 4 inches tonight, and 10-14 inches tomorrow. Whoa....

I cleared off a foot of frozen snow and ice on our trampoline that has melted and re-froze over the weeks to make it very heavy and looked as if the trampoline was about to snap.

And, the eggs keep on coming! I can't wait until Spring. If our measly flock of 3 hens can lay as much as Killer is laying this winter, we are going to have at least 18 eggs a week! We have not gone one day yet since last Sunday without an egg. In fact, we had scrambled eggs, with cheddar cheese and jalopenos for breakfast this morning. MMMMmmmmMmmMmm. I'm still not positive about a taste difference in regards to freshness.

The bad news with the warmer winter weather so far has been the foot plus of snow melting on the roof of the chicken coop. It has made it clear that the roof is leaking, and pretty bad. I cleaned out all the straw to put in fresh, but it was soaked in one spot by the next day. So, some definite re-modeling will be done next year. Besides the roof, I need to make another door in the front that I can open to gather eggs. Why? Because Killer decided to make a nest in the opposite corner from where I built the nesting boxes, and I couldn't reach it from the back door without crawling half-way in the coop.

Pigskins and Chicks

We know for a fact Killer is our egg layer. In the winter, without extra light added to increase the daylight, we have had an egg a day. Goes against everything I've read. Can't wait until Spring and to have all our hens laying. We have had eight eggs so far just from one hen. The eggs have grown a bit since the first one, too.

I haven't been keeping up with my New England sports posts, but in regards to football, the Patriots swept the regular season, 16-0. Take that Miami! Pats are playing Jacksonville right now as I type. The score just now turned to 28-20, Pats on top. Go PATS!

Celtics are 30-4. They just lost to Washington. Pesky Wizards! Celtics still have the best record in the NBA! Now if only the Bruins could become as consistent....

More Eggs!

I went to give the chickens fresh water and food this morning, and brought the flashlight to look for eggs, just in case. I never thought we'd get any this winter since I decided to let nature take its course, and not add extra light to the coop. I let the door down, and then opened the back to switch out water. I shined the flashlight in, and saw that Killer, our Barred Rock was already down off her perch and pecking at the food. I didn't see any eggs though.

Well, as I was almost to work, my cell rang. My son was calling to let me know he found an egg on the door. I asked if he knew where the egg carton was to put it in. And he said "It doesn't matter, Dad - I'm eating it for breakfast!" Then, when I said, "Hey, don't Mommy and Daddy get a chance at eating one of the eggs," he replied, "I found it! I get to eat it!"

My wife and I better get busy finding our own eggs!

Our first Egg!!

The chickens have survived this winter so far. The temp got 11 degrees below zero the other day, and the next morning, I was worried that I might not open the door to 4 living chickens. But, lo and behold they were all happy and healthy, AND we got our first eggs yesterday! I found one in the morning, but it was cracked and frozen, so I think it may have been laid earlier that night or early morning. Then my son went out later and opened the door to check, and found another in the same spot as the first! This one was perfect. My son then asked later, "Since I found the first egg, can I eat it?" First egg, meaning, first edible one. This morning for breakfast, I fried it up, put it on an English muffin with some ham... and my son said, "This is the best egg ever!"

Here's a few pictures, and a video, in case you were interested And as always, clicking on it will give you a bigger picture.