Fowl Play at the Woodfords

I know, I know it has been too long since I have written a blog.

Here is an update on our chickens and turkeys!

This spring we ordered 30 chicks from a hatchery and bought 3 turkeys as well.  As chicks they were so fun to hold and play with... but quickly they grew from the cute little chicks to ugly teenage chickens.  Moving to the farm we had only lost a few to sickness.  We were excited to finally let them out of their coop and allow them to see the world and run free during the day.

Day 1:  The chickens were out enjoying their day when out of the sky came a hawk and BAM.......

I heard the birds yelling, and went running outside to find 2 dead and ravens and hawks flying about.  Yelling and throwing sticks at them I chased them away.

Week 2: We were down in California for my cousins wedding.  When we had gotten back the wonderful girl who was housesitting for us, share the sad story of finding 5 more dead and a turkey had wondered off during the day...

I went out to see the damage and found one of our teenage chicks inside the coop not looking so well.  He or she had been attacked... and her leg was almost all gone.  Bringing her inside I quickly decided that we were going to loose her unless we amputated her leg.  The surgury took no time at all (since her leg was small and almost gone) but she spent the next couple weeks inside the house recovering.

**She is now out with the rest of the chickens as happy as can be.  Julia (one of the gals living with us at that time) named him/her Braveheart**

Week 3: After the second massacre, Jeff and I decided it was time to keep the chicks inclosed.  Jeff took a night and put together a redneck chicken run off of their coop.  So far it has worked to keep the ravens and hawks away.

I woke up to do the chores one morning, while Braveheart was still recovering in our house.  I walked out to the chicken coop only to find a sad, sad sight.  Something had dug under the coop and killed two chickens and our last two turkeys while they slept!  

That day we quickly placed plywood down under the coops so the animals wouldn't be able to dig under...

So here we are now, just over a month in our new house and we have gone from 30 chicks and 3 turkeys down to 16 chicks and 1 one-legged chick.

Oh the reality of living in the country on a farm....

More happier news to come soon.  Below are pictures of Braveheart our one-legged chicken.