We have been feeding the local coyote population healthy and organically raised chickens for the last few weeks. In the course of 2 1/2 weeks we have lost 3 of our four chickens. First Busty, our sweet girl who lay blue eggs, then Polly and finally her twin sister Buffy. Our sweet Rosie is left.
Nate and I were home when the last one, Buffy, was taken, we heard the alarm squack and, unfortunately, I was as far as I could be from the backyard when we heard it. We ran as fast as we could, shouting and yelling all along, only to get to the top steps of the backyard and see the coyote bolting with Buffy in his mouth through the yard and over the fence into the neighbor's yard. Because, yes, we are the smart family who decided to raise chickens knowing full well that a duo of coyotes lives in the overgrown bamboo thicket just 2 houses down.
I think of the three of us, I'm the most devastated. Nate is truly taking it all in stride. I mean, if we're going to be honest here, he wanted to eat them along along too.
So, now, I'm left trying to figure out if chickens get lonely and, if so, should we fork out $20 for a full grown chicken to keep Rosie company. Chicks will take at least 4 months before they can go into the coop with her or else she'll kill them herself. We'll be doubling our run size so that they can have more room to roam while we aren't downstairs and I'll be committing more time spent in our backyard so that Rosie can roam around and be safe.
Life on the farm. Ugh.
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