I love having chickens. Not only do they provide us with delicious eggs
but they are great pets. I really enjoy watching them run around and interact. And the boys enjoy chasing them.
The problem with chickens is that carnivorous animals also love them. We started with five hens and had over forty chickens at one time, and we are back down to ten. And four of the ten are the original five hens. Age equals wisdom in the chicken world.
One of the reasons I have chickens is because I want them to be able to free-range (like my kids) and eat fresh plants and bugs (sometimes like my kids) and get exercise (like my kids). Healthy chickens lay healthy eggs.
However, chickens are tasty treats for so many animals. One night a racoon family broke into my henhouse and wiped out half of my chickens. Chickens that had names and were our adored pets. Another time my neighbor's dogs got out and dug under the fence and killed eight of my hens while they were free-range roaming. And we have plenty of chicken hawks in our area and I have lost a few hens to them. Once a racoon, dog, fox, hawk, etc. tastes your chickens, they will be back for the all-you-can-eat buffet.
The other day I was in the field watchin my hens and I noticed some vultures circling above. The chickens paid them no heed. Then suddenly I saw a chicken hawk approaching, not making any noise that I could hear, and the chickens made their alarm sound and rushed into their pen. I have seen this several times and it amazes me that they can tell the difference.
He really likes to show off his pretty feathers.
I have ordered some new chicks by mail and they will get here in a little over a week. I have an assortment coming and I can't wait to open the box. The post office usually calls around seven in the morning and the boys and I go and pick up a box full of peeping adorable chicks. Seriously the cutest things I have ever received by mail! My goal is to have enough chickens so that I have eggs for us and our friends and family.
Back to the free-range issue. I have realized that my chicken pen has been labeled a buffet by many of the wild and not-so-wild animals in our area. I even saw a gray fox running in our field the other day. So in order to keep my chickens alive I can't let them run around all day outside their pen. It makes me sad, but I don't have a choice if I want my chickens to survive.
However, we have found a way to keep them partly free-range. Most days the boys and I go spend a few hours out in the field. We have our redneck playground of four round haybales and gopher mounds which make perfect construction sites. The chickens get to roam the fields filling up with tasty treats and we get some sunshine and exercise.
Give my boys a stick (Duke) and some haybales (Imp) and a field full of chickens and life is grand.
Except if you are a chicken-chasing (but not killing) dog.
