Sad News on the Urban Farm

For about a month now, I have been planning out a new blog post about adventures with our chickens and chicks. 

I was thinking about writing about how I had finally discovered what kind of chickens our new chicks were.  After a little bit of research, I'm almost positive that we had three Buff Orpingtons.  I wasn't totally sure that we had three HENS, one of them was looking more of the rooster variety.

Our Buff Orpington hens (and suspected rooster.)

I was also thinking about writing about the adventure of introducing the chicks to the chickens and getting them to "like" each other.  We spent several days keeping Gennie, our dominant hen, from pecking the chicks, chasing them into bushes, and pulling out their feathers.  We locked the big chickens in the coop, separating them from the babies in the chicken run underneath.  We let them roam the yard separately and together until they were finally at a point where they could tolerate each other, even though the babies always kept an eye out for the bigger chickens and scattered quickly if necessary.  And finally, we had gotten them all to share the coop together for two peaceful nights of slumber.

Goldie, Frankie and Murray exploring in the chicken run.

But this blog post will not be about either of these topics because, sadly, the bliss didn't last for long. 

On the third night of the chickens being in the coop together, we had an attack.  A giant raccoon had been seen by neighbors and is said to be the size of a medium sized dog. With his determination and brute strength, he broke the hinges off of the coop door and killed our entire brood of hens.  I went out to check on them during the day and found the aftermath of the slaughter (sorry for the graphic language, but it was pretty graphic).  The only survivor was Gennie, but she was too injured to save.  Luckily EOP was home and took care of the mess, but it was pretty devastating for all of us.

Daddy's hugs make everything better.

We were pretty discouraged too.  It had been almost exactly a year to the day since we had gotten our first round of chickens and we had done quite a bit of work in that year to get the few eggs we were getting.  There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel, now that we had three (or two) full sized hens on their way to providing us with full sized eggs.  The idea of starting over with chicks (in the house) was not appealing to us.  Then I got a message from a friend who raises chickens and understood our plight.  She offered us a condolence gift of new chicks, around the same age as our chicks!  Old enough to go straight into the coop without stinking up our basement.  We have decided to take them up on their offer!

First, we had to fortify our chicken coop.  We have doubled the number of latches on the doors and fortified some weak areas to deter even the most determined city predator.  We are hoping that our modifications will keep our new flock safe for years to come.

We are so grateful to John and Kristin Derby at First Farms, LLC. for their contribution to our farming efforts.  We can't wait to go pick up our new babies and bring them back to their urban oasis.

So farewell Gennie, Ronnie, Goldie, Frankie and Murray.  You will always hold a special place in our hearts.

The last picture of Gennie and Ronnie playing in the yard.