My Flock

Not only has my real life been in shambles, but my farm life has struggled too.

About a month or so ago, a fox got a taste and came back and basically destroyed half my flock. It was so sad. We ended up with only 7 hens left. Our rooster put up quite the fight and it was devastating to lose him.

The other day I went out to feed my ladies and saw that there were only two left.

3 months ago we had over 20 chickens and now I'm left with two.

It's heartbreaking.

We've set traps.

We've secured our fencing the best we could (without going electric). And yet it keeps finding a way.

I mean, we've gone months without issue. But once this fox got a taste...he came back and pretty much finished them off.

Our ladies were on the older side, not having added t our flock in several years. 

We did put in an order just last week for 9 more chickens and 4 turkeys.

But now I'm thinking we'll need more. 

Or I don't know. Until I can secure our pasture or something...I feel bad adding more. I don't want to keep losing them like this.

Is It Legal?

So I was wondering if it was legal to "take" or kill fox or anything like that who is threatening my flock/livestock.

I didn't know if we needed a permit or anything.

I've mentioned losing SEVERAL chickens over the last couple of years.

It's traumatizing and just plain annoying.

Like, LEAVE MY FLOCK ALONE.

We just put a trail cam near the coop.

We always see footprints circling the coop/pen area.

Our chickens should be safe in there...I mean. I can't imaging a fox or anything getting under that wiring. But it happens all the time, I read online.

But, if we start seeing the same activity and animal, betchyerass I'll be dressed in camo and laying, waiting for that fucker to come around and if it's legal, I'm gonna shoot it.

Here's what I found on the DEC website.

So it appears that it's completely legal to "take" a coyote or fox if it's damaging my property. 

And, that definition, per the DEC is:

Damaging Wildlife - A wild animal that damages property, for example, digs up your yard, eats your landscape plants or vegetable garden, kills or threatens your livestock or pets, fouls your lawn, eats the fish in your pond, damages your home, etc.

And, since my chickens ARE being hunted and eaten, I think I'm completely within my rights to shoot the motherfuckers. 

The camera I got is nice, but is definitely not a high end one. It's around $40. Depending on what we see, we may invest in more that have wifi capabilities. We have to actually go outside and get the SD card and check it.

And Steve woke me up to show me this:

Motherfucker. 

I knew it and now I'm going to be prepared. I've lost like 15 chickens over the years.

I wonder if we'll see any coyote activity or if they stay closer to the tree lines and aren't as brazen as these guys. 

The Rat. Part Quatre & Cinq. I'm DYYYYIIIINNNGGG.

No fucking way.

Well, I guess, that's what we wanted, right?

Saturday night Steve got home late from work, around 10pm.

He said Mr. was freaking out and knew something was downstairs. Steve had set about 3 traps down there.

I am so grossed out typing this.

Anyway.

He goes down the basement steps and sees a rat in the trap.

It's alive.

Of course it is.

It's caught by a leg.

So, Steve got a shovel. This is gruesome, folks. Look away now if you don't want to see what you know what happens next. 

So he had to put it out of its misery as humanely and quickly as possible. 

And out he goes. 

BUT HERE'S THE THING, GUYS. (DRY-HEAVING...)

At 2am (Steve's working on an old Mustang in the garage) he comes and wakes me to tell me that we got another one. 

ohmigod. UGHHH. GROSSSSS.

I did not get a photo of Steve disposing of this one, because he was only wearing boxers. LOL. 

But, it appeared to be TWO teenager-ish RATS.

TWO FUCKING RATS. 

IN A SPAN OF 4 HOURS. 

We set the traps again and let's see what happens. That's like 5, you guys, in like the last month. FIVE. 

I'm ready to move.

Or burn the house down.

The Rat. Part Trois.

WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS.

I can't fucking take it.

I mean, I can, but what in the fuck.

This is the year of the Rat.

Again. 

I've mentioned it before. 

And then again.

And here we are.

Let me back up.

Over the weekend, I stopped at our local feed store to pick up chicken and dog food. I saw that they had some bully sticks on sale. For those who don't know, they are made out of bull penis. Yep. You read that right. Bull. Penis. Penis. LOL. It's organic, easy to digest, and doesn't get caught in their throats, like rawhide.

I also stopped and got a car wash.

I went home and parked in the garage. I just paid $14 for a car wash and didn't want to get rained on.

That's what garages are for, right?

I got in my car Monday to drive to work.

Immediately noticed a funky smell. And, since it was chilly out, the heat was already on auto and I got blasted in the mouth face with the disgusting funk.

Realized I had left the bully sticks in my truck overnight and attributed the odor to that.

Ha.

Welp, after work, the smell was worse. Much worse. 

I realized there must be a dead animal somewhere stuck in my truck.

So I call Steve and told him. He reminded me of our rodent issue.

I left to run an errand during lunch and yep. Dead animal.

Now, mind you, my truck (black) has been sitting in the parking lot of my work while the temperature grazes 80 degrees.

To top it off, I had left my windows open, to try to "air it out" - BAD IDEA, PEOPLE.

BAD IDEA.

My truck was filled with flies.

Ohmygodthisissofuckinggross.

I open all the windows and moonroof and just get home as fast as I can. It just cannot get any worse.

Anyway.

My husband is my hero. Once again.

We thought perhaps it was a mouse.

Nope. It was this.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Steve started to look for it, followed the flies (gross!) and started to dismantle my glovebox.

He was back/on top of my cabin filter

Steve pulled it out....

I was dry-heaving the entire time taking these photos

Ugh, can you see the tail? Gross!

NOPE.

And he fell. 

People. I was driving around for 2 days with a dead RAT in or near my glovebox. Like 10 inches from my body. Like, what if that motherfucker jumped out onto my LAP???? OMG. My heart is racing just thinking about it.

I am absolutely horrified. 

This country shit is crazy. 

The Rat(s). Part Deux.

If you recall, we've encountered rats before. 

I'm not a fan. 

Well, they are fucking back. 

And I witnessed something traumatizing. 

It still haunts me. 

It was maybe 2 weeks ago? 

I let the dogs outside, like normal. 

I realized they were both nose-down, staring at the thing that holds our hose. 

I go out there (Ava follows) and we go stare at it with them. 

Hm. I wonder. 

(At this point, I have no idea what they are staring at).

I move the hose-thing.

A rat straight jumps out AT US, jumps THROUGH Ava's legs (she screams as it brushes up against her leg) and the dogs barrel past us, chasing this thing through the yard. 

I'm kinda freaking out and kinda laughing at this. 

I realize that Bella is back at the hose-thing. 

I life it straight up, thinking that the rat has already run away! There can't be another rat, right?

Oh. I was wrong. 

Very wrong.

And this rat. 

Well. 

He didn't get away. 

My sweet Bella dog. 

She caught this fucking rat and threw it. 

Tossed it.

Through the air. 

Mr. grabbed it.

He tossed it. 

It landed and tried to get away. 

Bella grabbed it again and this time...

CHOMPED DOWN. 

This entire time I'm screaming and running back and forth (not entirely sure what to do).

Mila comes out to see what's going on and I yell at her to go back inside (why traumatize her at this point? Me and Ava are already fucked).

Ava is still standing there, watching this unfold.

I'm looking for a shovel.

We have like 10.

Of course I can't find any shovel.

None. Not a one.

What the fuck?!

Steve took them allllll over to the other side of the deck. Must've been using them for something.

Grab a shovel and head back over. 

I have to get these dogs away from this (now) dead rat. 

But, since it's freshly dead...it's still...squishy?

It won't just go on the shovel. It just keeps flopping around.

So I have to get another stick and have to use that to get it on the shovel. Ugh.

Mind you, I still have two frantic dogs trying to get the rat OFF the shovel while I'm trying to do this.

I finally succeed and throw the rat into our "Rat Graveyard" that's on the other side of our driveway, in the bushes. 

I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm proud of my girl for MURDERING THAT PEST. 

But watching it all happen?

I won't ever get that site out of my mind. 

Weekend Update. The good and the bad.

Let's start with the bad.

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.