I was in the bedroom getting ready to relax for the evening when all of a sudden the chickens were making quite a loud audible raucous. I hollered at Ken (I was a bit indecent at the time) to see if he had heard what I had heard, and apparently he had not. I told him something was going on with the chickens (actually it sounded like a bunch of turkeys gobbling). When I was dressed enough to go out to see what it was all about Ken informed me he chased away a bobcat by picking up a 3' piece of re-bar that was nearby and flung it at the critter. The bobcat had been sitting right up next to the chicken run (most likely licking his chops) and the chickens were just in a tizzy!
When I arrived I could see one of the hens sitting inside the coop on the window sill looking out. The other seven were all trying to get up on one of the two perches in the run. Poor little things, I know they must have been scared to death. We talked to them trying to sooth their souls (do chickens have souls?) and walked back into the house. About a half hour later it was time to "put the chickens to bed" but they hadn't budged from the perch. So we had to put them inside one by one. I do hope they'll feel safe.
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| By the time I arrived they were still squawking as if to tell me what all the commotion was about. |
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| Look at them all on the one perch. Five perched and two wanting to join the crowd. |
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| They figured out there would be more room if they'd use one of the other perches but there is still one little girl that would really like to be up a bit higher. |
Life is good!
4 comments:
Yes, chickens are souls in feathered bodies. Is your chicken run closed at the top so that a predator cannot get in to eat the chickens? When I first built mine a decade ago, it wasn't covered, which caused one of my hens to be killed and dragged away by a fox. I was devastated and very, very sad. I locked the girls up in their hen house for the next few days until we could cover the run with chicken wire. Haven't lost any chickens to predators since that first time years ago. I have seen foxes, skunks, possums, bobcats and bears on my property. I have seen their tracks all around the chicken coop. Hawks are another predator to watch out for around here.
I am glad your girls are safe. They look so grown up already!
Oh bless their little chicken hearts! That was scary. But they were safe in their coop thank goodness. Good thing you were there and heard the commotion and Ken was able to give that bob cat a scare.
I know there are bobcats in the area from our summer in Coarsegold. We had to buy a chainlink cage of sorts for Bro and Sissy to stay in during the day, with a top on it. Poor little chicks, sure hope that doesn't happen often. But with their new perch,they can all feel safe.
Wow, your poor ladies! Glad that they could get up and out of the way.
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