Last night our coop got rocked. The door (which is huge and solid wood) was busted in and our fence was ripped down. Two chickens are gone. Bear tracks are visible surrounding the coop and at the point of entry. Only one hen remains. All this the day before we are to leave to visit with family and we feel terrible about leaving the one hen behind, alone. She's squawking like crazy and walking the perimeter of our property, calling for her coop mates I'd imagine.
This really sucks.We have to get a dog really soon. We had been putting it off only because of all the babies being born around here over the past two years we felt we didn't have the time to train a farm/guard dog properly. But we had been calling this one woman about Gampr's and playing phone tag literally for months. Oddly, we finally got to speak with her last night. Coincidence? She has a litter of pups that she's testing with chickens now for us. I hope it works out.
We're heading to Jersey for a few days to deliver our Pilot to my cousin who bought it from us and then to see the 'rents. They refuse to get high speed internet so my posting may be sporadic over the next week but I have a lot I want to share.
Here's a little peek. Notice sweet Chippy in the foreground. She's following us all day.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend and week!
ooxx,
Spidey
Oh, the heartbreak of chicken raising:( Hope Chippy gets some nice coop mates soon, and a nice guard dog!
Posted by: Barb | August 01, 2009 at 02:51 PM
I'm so sorry to hear about your coop, that's so sad that just Chippy is left. I hope you can get your dog soon, I've never heard of that breed!
Posted by: Denise | August 01, 2009 at 03:10 PM
Gosh, sorry to hear about your chickens. Have a good trip!
Posted by: Zonda | August 01, 2009 at 07:33 PM
Thanks Zonda :)
Posted by: Abi | August 01, 2009 at 08:48 PM
Thanks Denise :) The Gampr is pretty much unknown in America but fits
the bill perfectly for us. Great with kids and uber-protective of
livestock. I am also Armenian so it would be really special if we could
have two pups.
Posted by: Abi | August 01, 2009 at 08:50 PM
Thanks Barb :) We're already in the works to increase our flock.
Posted by: Abi | August 01, 2009 at 08:51 PM
So sorry to hear about your break in! I hope everything works out with the new puppies... what an awesome addition to the family. Glad to see you've gotten in some sewing time! Have a great trip!
Posted by: Laura | August 01, 2009 at 09:24 PM
hey Spidey, please don't stop blogging. I've taken of a while from blogreading and read about your 'blogville bust thing' just recently. I love reading your blog, but would understand completely since I recognise your problem. I do everything half, so not even my ravelry page is op to date, let alone facebook, flickr and all the other pages. How do you manage with so much work and 3 kids (lovely ones by the way!)
Posted by: Saskia | August 03, 2009 at 05:50 AM
Poor chickadees!
PS-I totally agree about the instant gratification of sewing from your comment on my blog. I tell you, that has really kept me on my sewing kick versus starting a new knit.
Posted by: Kara | August 03, 2009 at 01:42 PM
I'm going to cling to the hope that the other chickens will return while you're gone. Poor Chippy!
p.s. why can't I get this to show my name instead of site? Hmmmm.
Posted by: meshugemoo.wordpress.com | August 04, 2009 at 04:29 PM
Wow, what a hard way to start a vacation. I remember my cat disappearing the night before my vacation and he didn't show up for two weeks (we were only gone one). I was so worried. But he came back. That was 11 years ago and he's still going strong. I hope your story has a similarly happy ending. Maybe some of the chickens flew the coop and will return while you are away. Perhaps they will be roosting in the trees, SuperSpideyHens, when you come home. I hope so....
Suzanne in rural Ohio
Posted by: Suzanne | August 06, 2009 at 09:33 AM