When I got home from work today I took a walk around the pine grove where I met the fishers in the morning. Moving through the area I was able to identify the feathers, wings, feet, and bodies of about 11 of our birds. Suffice to say the other 4 are out there somewhere, also in pieces.

Being that all the carnage is located out there I’m thinking that the fishers arrived before the chickens had made it into the fenced in yard for the night and drove them into the woods where they could be picked off one by one. Looking at the trampled fern bunches and haphazard arrangement of mayhem, it seems to be a logical explanation.

So it seems we’re back to square one; though I guess it’s really more like square two because at least we have the chicken coop built. We’re going to try and not waste much time getting “back into the game”. The question we’re grappling with now is how to keep them safe until they are a bit older.

They slowly expanded their range into the woods over the last few days, and unfortunately, were still not really “street smart”. They were at that awkward stage between peeping and making real chicken sounds that has them mostly mute. The roosters had no spurs to enforce the law or voice to call their girls to order. But how do you tell a chicken not to wander too far?

We’re in the market for some more chickens and may toss in a few other heritage breeds for some variety. We’re having a party this weekend that we hoped would be a “welcome to the farm” party, and allow us to introduce our flock to our family and friends. Between the total loss of livestock, and the constant rain drowning our garden we don’t have a huge bounty to show.

I sort of feel like Forrest Gump when he tries to be a shrimp boat captain.

This entry was posted on June 30th, 2009 and is filed under Chickens, Livestock.

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