Sad week around here

Well, we have some sad news to report from Fat Beagle Farm. On Tuesday, we lost over half of our chickens. :-( When we went out near dusk to close in the chickens for the night, there were only 7 of the 15 chickens hanging out on their roosts. We beat the bushes and looked and looked, and all we found were 4 or 5 different piles of feathers at various places all over the back forty. We had just talked to our neighbor, who told us she saw a dog (that looked "like a wolf", whatever that means) hanging around our pens a bit earlier in the day. We figure this dog (or possibly more than one?) got as many chickens as it could catch or carry.

It's hard to believe over half the flock could be gone just like that (the survivors are in the picture at right), but after consulting other chicken folks online, it seems that neighboring and/or stray dogs are one of the biggest threats to a free-ranging flock, especially during the day. Many people also said finding just feathers (and no other parts) sounds right for dogs, especially a big, hungry dog. Who knows what dog did the crimes -- people around here let their dogs roam unfenced and unleashed as a matter of course. I doubt we'll ever find who did it.

As you might expect, we were all extremely sad. This remaining flock seemed rather stunned that first evening, but now they're just itching to get back outside. We let them out for a few hours one afternoon, but only because one of them escaped out the front door and we didn't want her by herself. Too bad for them, but since then, they've been in their coop. We've ordered some electrified poultry netting so we can at least set up a small area where they can at least be outside. Fully fencing a good area for them to roam is too big and expensive a project for us this season. It really bums us out since they really enjoyed free-ranging so much, but for now, the risk feels too high.

Plus, I don't think Ellie would stand for them out there without protection, at least for a while. We have spent time talking about how at least the hens led a great free life before the dog came, which is more than you can say for chickens at Tyson!