Murder in the Chicken Coop

Duct tape and rag ripped away!

Last week I entered the chicken coop on my usual morning routine: big bucket of food and little scoop of scratch in hand.  Entering, I was shocked to almost trip over a dead hen, a young Isa Brown from the group we bought as day-olds in June.  I turned to set down my bucket, only to discover two more in the corner, behind the door.  What an awful way to start my day!  These were beautiful young hens, just starting their journey as egg layers for Aagaard Farms.  None exhibited much damage, certainly they looked pecked around the head and neck.  We assumed that the damage had come from within the flock, because we considered the coop quite secure.  Perhaps the three young roosters born here in August were getting rough?

A few days later, another dead hen, an older Isa Brown.  Again, she looked pecked but largely intact.  I put the roosters for sale on eBrandon, our local online community.  Yesterday morning, another, but this time the head and neck were missing.  Chickens wouldn't do that: they wouldn't or couldn't eat a skull....We've got more of a problem then we thought!  We carefully checked the coop - the only way a predator could get in would be through the chicken's door, which has a little gap or through the front door.  We'd removed the lock of the door, to allow a bit more air flow, and were using a tie-down as a little extra security.  When it's well below freezing here and the chickens are confined to the coop, they release a lot of moisture and heat.  It can get very humid and stuffy in the coop, so we'd removed the lock to allow the hot air to escape a bit better, even though we'd built in air exchange.  On examining the door, there was blood around this little hole, which I don't think I transferred there in my comings-and-goings.  Was it possible that a critter was getting onto the door handle or tie-down and through that hole?  Farmer Man figured a weasel was perhaps at work.

So yesterday, we fixed everything as best we could.  We stuffed the hole in the door with a rag, well held in place by duct tape on both sides (the farmer's fix-all!).  This morning: the outside duct tape ripped off, the rag pulled out and the duct tape inside pushed aside!  And another dead chicken, one of the young roosters born here in August.  Unbelievable to me that a little critter, like a weasel, could get up on the door handle and in-and-out through that small hole! And drag a chicken head with it! So today, something is getting bolted over that hole.  I'm just sorry I didn't realize how much of a problem we had sooner, but it will be fixed today!  We're just worried the critter will get hungry and attack them during the day, when they are out in the pasture, so we'll also be looking for some kind of trap today.  Hopefully, our little flock will be safe again!

Teeny Perfect Egg!

Out to the chicken coop first thing this morning (well, after my first cup of coffee!).  Not in the nest boxes, but in the corner under the roosts, I find this perfect little wee egg.  It's such a beautiful little thing!  Now, The Girls, the Leghorns, are a year old and have been laying since June '09.  Why one would lay such a tiny thing is a mystery to me!  For the photo, I've included a quarter, for perspective ( a shiny new Canadian Olympic quarter!) as well as some of the regular eggs.  I wonder how they actually make those awesome, handpainted Ukrainian Easter Egss........

Chickens in the Snow

It's chilly - but The Girls and Rocky decided to take a little stroll in the snow, anyway. We've got to be careful about letting them out in colder weather - they may go even though it may not be good for them. They can freeze combs, wattles and toes as well as have respiratory problems. However, I needed to get into their little coop to clean and collect eggs and refresh water. I don't think they will be staying out long!

The Girls Are Settling In!

All our little hens seem to be settling in well. They are spending all day outside, scratching and clucking. It's so.....farmyard! It's adorable! They immediately head to the row of old spruce we incorporated inside their pen - good protection from the red-tail hawks we know are in the neighbourhood. They finally used the nest boxes Farmer Boy faked up for them from old nursery pots. Much better then trying to collect eggs off the floor! We do also find at least a couple of eggs under the spruce trees - a hard crawl to collect those. We've noticed the eggs are getting to be a better size everyday; they've been very petite so far, with yolks the size of quarters. Now, to get Farmer Boy to build the proper coop.........

The Girls Are Here!!!!

Well, the girls are here.....twenty little hens, just starting to lay eggs. About nineteen weeks old. Now, I am aware of how trendy it is to have chickens but we have been planning on it for a couple of years, really! We're on a farm, so we can have a few, too!! We got 'the girls' rather on short notice, so we had to fake-up a quick home. Straw bales and an old camper top. Farmer Boy has been looking over plans and getting quotes on lumber but no proper coop yet. It will come quickly now, though, because we have 25 chicks coming on June 4.

The makeshift coop seems to be working well. We were told to keep 'the girls' inside for two days so that they would know that the coop was their home. We kept them in three days because the third day was soooooo cold. They've been roamin' around outside for a day, now. We're getting about five small to medium eggs a day, yolks the size of quarters. So far, so good!