In total, we had 10 chickens, and one giant bossy turkey, Duncan. Yes, I said “had”. You see, we have 6 laying hens (my bitches) yielding an average of 4-5 eggs per day, and then we had 4 baby silkies in a separate coop. If you’ve never seen a silkie chicken before, you’re in for a treat! I dare you to google it! They are so adorable and sweet and fluffy! I even bought them bows! Anyways, to the point. Within the same 24 hours, we lost 2 of them! By “lost”, I mean some predator dug under the coop and had them for dinner! Imagine the horror seeing a trail of soft white and gray feathers leading from that tiny whole under the coop to the woods. The silkies are more of a pet project for me, so naturally, I had become very attached. My daughter and I snuggled them, and took them over to the greenhouse to hang out. We lost Bella (my daughter named her) and Marylin Monroe ( she was Snow White). Tears were shed, by my daughter and myself and my anxiety set in.. all the things!
So here’s the lesson… reinforce your coop y’all! We have 2 really nice coops, but when something wants what’s in there… make sure to have a back up line of defense. Maybe even 2 lines of defense! There’s not much more disappointing and sad than having 2 sweet adorable chicks snatched up by the neighborhood’s rascals! My heart hurt for them, imagining how scared they were in their last moments. See!? I got attached!! Maybe that’s another lesson- DON’T GET ATTACHED! Eh, what fun would that be then?! I digress!
So! With only 2 silkies left right now, one being a male rooster cocka-doodle-doodle-ing in the wee hours of the morning (eye-roll), I went on Amazon and purchased 30ft of animal barrier fence and installed it all the way around the coop. https://www.amazon.com/shop/cara.fortis/list/3PTL5R0RGYITH?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_HFWMX1M0VXEE6F636KE0You just hammer it down deep into the ground and pray it does the trick. It’s done well for the coop with our laying hens, so I’m hopeful! I personally like it because I’m new to this whole shebang and it was easy to do!
LESSON LEARNED!
Your’s Truly,
The Amateur Homesteading Mama