It was bound to happen. I had gotten confident.
We lost several chickens over the weekend.
Including Hei-Hei. I'm sad.
It started Friday evening. I had just gotten home with the kids from daycare and pulling up our driveway, I noticed that there were quite a few chickens out of the fence.
The girls immediately got out of the car and went to work.
"We got it, mommy! We'll grab who we can and throw them over the fence!"
Great job, girls!
I called them inside for dinner and they told me they got Hei-Hei and one other chicken into the fence.
While they are eating, I head out to throw food scraps and check on them. I notice that Hei-Hei is back in the fence, but that there are probably 4-5 other ones out.
I leave them out because it can be futile to try to get them into the fence. Plus, they flutter out again anyway.
In the past, when we thought we lost chickens, they would miraculously show up again a few days later. Since we live near the woods, I assume that they roost over night in the trees, then come back down during the day.
That happened a few times to us.
But not this time. Steve went out to check again yesterday and still no signs of them.
So I think they are gone for good.
I'm really sad about Hei-Hei, but I'm trying really hard not to take it horribly. I know these are farm animals and that this could happen.
So what can we do to avoid this?
I'm asking Steve to build in extra protection to our fence. I want to make it so the chickens can't flutter and get over the top. I'm not exactly sure how to go about it - I keep thinking of having wiring that comes out into the fence, so the chickens would have to fly up and OVER. Which I think would be harder to do. So we're brainstorming.
I can't lose chickens like this again. It's too heartbreaking.
Plus, we were getting 15 eggs per day. We're down to 7.
On to the Good News.
Our baby chicks are starting to get their feathers and are definitely getting bigger. I'd say we can move them outside in the next 2-3 weeks. Since we lost so many over the weekend, after we get these guys outside into the small coop, we will be getting probably another 12 baby chicks.
I also started my next batch of seedlings.
This Bubba is always wanting to help - and I'm realizing she's very perceptive. She told me that the cauliflower seeds look very similar to broccoli seeds. She also told me that squash seeds look very similar to pumpkin seeds. I'm impressed she remembered!
Popsicle sticks being put to good use!
Squash
Here is the first batch. Our watermelon popped through! So exciting!
Pumpkin on the right, watermelon in the middle, broccoli on the left
See the watermelon finally poking through?
So now I have the first batch and second batch under the lights. I will be transferring the hardier plants in the next week or so to the biodegradable planters I bought.
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