Predators Break Into Kelly's Coop!

Last month while collecting eggs inside my nesting boxes, I opened the "favorite" nesting box to collect my daily dozen. While looking through the nesting boxes, I noticed a peculiar and ominous shape inside my roosting box (where the chickens sleep at night). I opened up the main door to my coop and found a long, skinny, curled up tail from inside one of my other nesting boxes.

Being a blogger, I should have grabbed my phone and took a picture of the invader inside my coop to share with my lovely readers, but all I could frantically think of was, "Help! Help! Something is trying to eat my hens!" Was it a huge rat, possom, or snake? I didn't know, but I started screaming for my husband (at the top of my lungs...quite the damsel in distress) to help me rid the impostor!

Once Mike got to the coop, we carefully lifted another side door and discovered a teenage sized possum curled up in one of the nesting boxes. It was cold and raining that day, so it was probably not looking for a "chicken nugget" snack. It was probably just trying to find a warm, safe spot out of the rain. Using a VERY long pole, we gently pushed the little guy around the coop trying to get him to leave without injuring him or making him too mad. He just crept from nesting box to nesting box trying to find a way to hide from our probes. Eventually I had to roll him out somersault fashion through the door where he scurried away into the woods.

Problem solved, crisis averted...until this past week.

Sweet Pea

I came home to find a pile of white pile of feathers right next to my coop which was very unusual, it's not molting season for the girls. No blood, no body, but several hundred feathers were scattered all around the ground. I just knew one of my girls had been attacked and was either injured or dead. I quickly started counting my white chickens. Bubble Gum, present. Speedy, present. Sweet Pea.....Sweet Pea....Sweet Pea???? I couldn't find her. Based on her name, you might have guessed she is a very special hen to me. I've had her for three years and she is one that loves to be held and talked to. She is one that perches on my shoulders and follows me around the yard.

Trying hard not to lose my cool and trying hard not to cry (over a chicken!), I start doing a walk about in my woods trying to find her or discover more feathers to figure out where she was taken. After searching for 30 minutes, I go back to the coop to find Sweet Pea roosting next to her sister, Bubble Gum, on her perch. I can't tell you how relieved I was to find her!

Later that night, Mike told me why I had found so many feathers next to the coop. He saw a hawk stalking the chickens that entire day. Three crows kept attacking the hawk to prevent it from entering our yard (Yay, crows!). The hawk eventually made its way through the crows trying to grab Sweet Pea. She was able to get away with loosing only a handful of feathers from her back.

Why am I starting to have these issues with predators? My rooster, Clifford, had to go to rooster heaven last month after attacking me quite severely one night. RIP Clifford. Roosters are excellent at deterring predators and alerting the hens when an attack is close by. Without Clifford around, all the bad guys are thinking they have a free dinner at Kelly's Chick Inn.

BUT, I have four teenage roosters that will reach their manhood around July. Once they claim the girls as their own, the predator situation will be resolved. The main problem is my flock can only handle 1-2 roosters, otherwise the hens will be overly "used" and will get hurt. I'm waiting to see which roosters will be "nice" around me and my kids before we eat the other two who are more aggressive and mean.

I'm hoping that Worf will make the cut. He looks like a Klingon from Star Trek and I know that hawks and possums wouldn't even attempt anything around this odd looking, fierce guy (with hopefully a kind, gentle heart).

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Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly