Trauma

During dinner I was enjoying watching the (9) chickens hang out on the front porch and clean up seeds and insects in the front gardens.  Suddenly they all squawked and frantically flew in all directions: Fox.  Gambol and I raced out to protect our flock.  It dropped an Orpington that limped a bit but seemed to shake off any injury. Not another hen was in sight. I saw a black thing head down the Jennifer trail;  I think it was the black tipped tail of a red fox but it could have been the barred rock.  She's missing. Gambol and I walked down the trail searching.  We found no chickens or chicken pieces, but we did run into a fox. (Well, maybe not exactly run into; it was 20 yards from us.) Gambol chased it off as silently as the fox ran.  He found a dead Easter Egger hen in the backyard.  I found another Orpington perched 6 feet up in a wild cherry tree in the front unharmed but scared.
We walked around the house and searched in their preferred hiding places.  Nothing.  I caught a glimpse of what may be a second fox up the hill a bit.  Gambol ran it off, too.
We did another lap of the house and found 5 birds in the west-side viburnums.  Gambol helped me herd them into the coop as the other dogs watched. Buddy did a good job of watching on his own. Paul had tight hold on the other 2 boys.  I have gone out to check around the coop, in case we missed anyone now that it's getting dark.  I think the foxes took 2 and killed one.
So now we have 6.

UPDATE: Natalie at the Greyhound Kennel offered to take the remaining girls back .  She raised them for me ntil it was time to go outside.  On June 13, I took them back to their sisters.

Chicks first outing

Chicklets are out. I'm still working on the Brittany fence, so they only go out with supervision. They spent about 20 min discovering their front stoop. Gambol looked on. No worries there.

Buff Orpington Standard, Easter Eggers, Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock. 9 all together.

And then there were 4

Heard a chicken making a lot of noise right out by the wood pile so I ran to the balcony and looked out to see a fox grabbing one of the black hens as the Barred Rock ran away.  I yelled “Hey” but the fox only dropped the hen and got a better grip on it before it moved off down the Jennifer Trail.  Since the chicken did not move when it was dropped, it was likely already dead.  I heard the alarm call from another hen and,  sure enough, a fox (a different one?) was chasing the Barred Rock down the driveway.  The fox was right behind the hen, but she's a survivor and outran the fox.  I raced down the driveway after them, but did not see any fox or hen as I got down past the first culvert.  Right now I don’t see any of the other hens, so no telling how many still survive.  
I think these are silver foxes, but both were in the shadows of the trees, so they could have been red ones.  The foxes were not all that big, but big enough to carry away the chickens.

Sad news from the hen house

I let 10 hens out on Friday morning but only 5 came back to roost.  We found 3 puffs of feathers: one at the corner of the patio and 2 more in the forest.  Half the flock is gone.  We are keeping them inside for most of the day since the weather is so cool.  Perhaps the hungry beasts will move on quickly if their snack shack is closed.
We have one barred rock, 1 white easter egger, 2 black copper marans, and a golden comet left.

Death from the sky

12/12/12
Around lunchtime I took the dogs out for a walk and saw out of the corner of my eye a large bird fly up into an oak tree back and to the right of the coop from the coop area.  I couldn't see the bird clearly but when it flew away from the tree it was fairly clear it was a Red Tail Hawk from the shape of the body and the fan-like tail.  I walked over to the compost pile to see if there was any damage and I didn't see anything but noticed a feather or two on the ground.  I  noticed  a pile of feathers next to the firewood pile that I had just walked past.  Sure enough, a tan hen was on the ground, most of its breast feathers picked clear. It was obvious that the hawk had managed to make a fairly good meal of the dead chicken.  The other chickens were hiding out in the hazelnut area.  I removed the carcass and put it on the slash pile next to the road by the garden.

121212dead hen

Got the log splitter started up after some false starts--forgot which levers had to be in which positions to make the engine catch.  Once I figured those out, it started up and ran for a short period and then quit.  I adjusted the choke and started it again and it ran fine while I split about half of the pile.

Reading12

87Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives***Thomas French behind the scenes at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo; parallels between PSU's BOT and this Zoo's but then I wonder how many BOTs are rubber stamps for CEOs until something goes wrong and the BOTs try to COA with knee jerk reactions that have little to do with the problem at hand. 

86Remarkable Creatures: A Novel*** Tracy Chevalier On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary Anning learns that she has a unique gift: "the eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love.

Mary soon finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster who shares her passion for scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy, but ultimately turns out to be their greatest asset.  Insight about early 19th century women's place in British society. (Amazon review)

85Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man  ****Mcgrory, Brian  The author's life changed drastically after the death of his beloved dog, Harry: he fell in love with Pam, Harry's veterinarian. Though Brian’s only responsibility used to be his adored Harry, Pam came with accessories that could not have been more exotic to the city-loving bachelor: a home in suburbia, two young daughters, two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and a portly, snow white, red-crowned-and-wattled step-rooster named Buddy. While Buddy loves the women of the house, he takes Brian's presence as an affront, doing everything he can to drive out his rival. Initially resistant to elements of his new life and to the loud, aggressive rooster (who stares menacingly, pecks threateningly, and is constantly poised to attack), Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and her two girls that he wants for himself. The rooster is what Brian needs to be – strong and content, devoted to what he has rather than what might be missing. As he learns how to live by living with animals, Buddy, Brian’s nemesis, becomes Buddy, Brian’s inspiration, in this inherently human story of love, acceptance, and change.  (Amazon review)

84Cathedral ***DeMille, Nelson St. Patrick's Day, New York City. Everyone is celebrating, but everyone is in for the shock of his life. Born into the heat and hatred of the Northern Ireland conflict, IRA man Brian Flynn has masterminded a brilliant terrorist act -- the seizure of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Among his hostages: the woman Brian Flynn once loved, a former terrorist turned peace activist. Among his enemies: an Irish-American police lieutenant fighting against a traitor inside his own ranks and a shadowy British intelligence officer pursuing his own cynical, bloody plan. The cops face a booby-trapped, perfectly laid out killing zone inside the church. (Amazon review)

83Open and Shut *** Rosenfelt, David  Andy Carpenter, a defense lawyer, takes on a new client: a man on death row, appealing his conviction for the murder of a woman nearly a decade ago. Andy takes the case as a favor to his father, the district attorney who originally prosecuted the inmate. When Andy's father dies, leaving him 22 million dollars and a 35-year-old photograph, Andy has some tough questions to answer. Where did his father get the money? Who are the men in the photograph? And could one of them have some connection with the murder for which Andy's client was convicted? Andy Carpenter is a welcome addition to the lawyer-as-sleuth roster; he's a charming and witty hero whose literary allusions and snarky asides keep us thoroughly entertained. (Amazon review)

Gambol diversifies

Gambol: Grrrrr.
Leslie, looking into the forest over Gambol's head:  I don't see anything.
Gambol: GRrrrr.
Paul, looking down the driveway for rabbits:  There's nothin...Oh! look!

The 4'-er was just of the patio among the flock. The hens didn't mind and the snake just glided on by. 

Dynamite Blacks

Six dynamite black (black sex link) is this year's breed for flock renewal. One week old today. "A cross using Rhode Island Red males and Barred Rock females. Very good layer of brown eggs. Hens are black with gold hackles and neck feathers." Hoffman Hatchery

Hole math

Auger hole = air + rocks

Planting hole = soil + compost - rocks

rock wall = (planting hole-soil -compost) * (151 shrub holes + 87 tree holes)

I put another hen to rest tonight. This one was a barred rock who couldn't hop into the coop any longer. RIP and thanks for the fun.  We are still getting 9 eggs most days, so I don't think either of the sickies were laying.

RIP Little Hen

She was getting more wobbly and even 3 days of yogurt treatment wasn't reducing the liquid I poured out of her. I could feel her keel getting sharper every day. I thanked her for 4 years of eggs and put her out of her pain.  Dust to Dust, or in this case to coyote/bear food.

Reading: 28I'm listening with a broken ear ****Vicky Kaseorg  Mom and 11 yo daughter Asherel rescue a dog from a parking lot in the summer in South Carolina.  Dog turns out to have just given birth, be very aggressive, and have a host of other issues, but with patience, help from a dog rescuer at Last Chance Rescue at Hollow Creek Farm turns into a talented agility dog who Qs on her first trial.  Even Mom talking to Jesus was well written and played easily into the story.

27Death Angel ** Martha Powers  Kate and Richard Warner are thrust into the black hole of every parent's worst nightmare. Richard has been singled out as the primary suspect in a heinous crime that took more than an innocent life. With Richard as a suspect, Kate's life unravels into unbearable chaos, grief, and a whole new world of deception. After a second murder and Richard's disappearance, Kate sets out to find the killer in their midst and clear her husband's name. She begins to piece together an eerie puzzle, finding clues in the heart of her own community. In Death Angel anguish, suspicion and death combine in the horrifying aftermath of a vicious crime that pits a mother's love against a ruthless killer. In a stunning conclusion, Kate risks her own life to track down and kill the Death Angel. (Amazon summary)

Hen update

This Barred Rock's crop is so full of bugs  from our unseasonably warm weather and left over seeds she looks like she needs a one sided bra.  She's been laying since Jan 2008 but is probably about done.

Scuffling for treats from our dinner scraps.  All I have to do is shake my hand and they come running from a far.

 10 beautiful eggs today

 A barred rock and her buddy squirrel cleaning up sunflower seeds under the feeder.

Rhode Island Red (1 yr this month) among the daffodils happily bugging.

We had the first bear visit of the season last night:  the feeder rope was out of place and the compost bin was overturned.  All the hens are accounted for, however.

Reading
24Becoming Quinn ****Brett Battles  Meet Jake Oliver. The day will come when he's one of the best cleaners in the business, a man skilled at making bodies disappear.  At the moment, however, he's a twenty-two year old rookie cop, unaware his life is about to change. In a burning barn a body is found--and the fire isn't the cause of death. The detectives working the case have a pretty good idea about what went down. But Officer Oliver thinks it's something else entirely, and pursues a truth others would prefer remain hidden--others who will go to extreme lengths to keep him quiet. 
Every identity has an origin. This is Quinn's. (Kindle summary)
23Death Benefits ***Jennifer Becton  Fraud investigator Julia Jackson is back in action, and her next assignment throws her straight into the crosshairs of a bevy of desperate people…and one man who will do anything to keep his secret safe. Late one night, a car burns on a lonely rural road, and the discovery of a body—charred beyond recognition—in the driver’s seat sets in motion a series of deadly events. And when the wife of the supposedly deceased driver demands her husband’s million-dollar life insurance policy payout before the autopsy can be completed, fraud investigators Julia Jackson and Mark Vincent must determine exactly how the victim died and at whose hands. As Julia and Vincent interview witnesses and tangle with a host of angry suspects, another man is working behind the scenes to sever his mysterious connection to the body by any means necessary. Soon Julia and Vincent realize they are not dealing with an average death benefits scam, but with a potential serial killer instead. (Kindle summary)
22The List *** JA Konrath  It's a technothriller about a group of ten people who each have tattoos of numbers on the bottoms their feet, and don't know why. One of them, a Chicago Homicide cop named Tom Mankowski, has had one of these strange tattoos since birth. When he investigates a violent murder and discovers the victim also has a tattooed number, it sets the ball rolling for an adventure of historic proportions.  (Kindle summary)
21The Desperate Dad's Guide to Getting Some **Jackie Papandrew Humorous tales of family and marriage: choreplay is most definitely foreplay, no such thing as “woman’s work,” there are jobs only a man should have to do.

25 books so far this year!

Count the chickens

5 dark red Rhode Island Reds
2 black Marons
1 white, 2 gray, 1 dk brown/black Ameracauners
3 b/w speckeld Barred rocks
2 light red Golden Comets
------------------------------
16 ??? so why am I only getting 5 eggs each day?

Bear repair

Paul ordered the replacement windows from a company on the Internet and located in Camp Hill, PA so delivery was extra speedy.  The windows fit the rough opening exactly (how did THAT happen?) and he found some caulk that was used on the new house so the color is very close to the color of the chicken coop siding.  The new windows are single hung style and probably would be installed with the screened window on the bottom, but he installed them with the screen on the top.  The windows have 3 stops so that they can be held partly open, if desired.  The chickens liked the light inside the coop after having the plywood panels covering the openings since the bear's visit.

First snow

Started about 7AM and is wet and heavy, sticking to trees and grass but not driveway yet. 32 deg at 8:30.
Scrambled out of bed to a low and deep chest growl from Buddy: a small herd of deer crossing the drive. 45 minutes later he still won't leave the window in case they didn't really leave.

The chickens are hiding from the snow under the truck.

11:30 heavier snow 32 deg
Half the chickens made it back to the coop before the ground was covered.  We may have to carry the rest.

branches are beginning to sag but the birdbath is still visible

On the last walk through the meadow we shook the fruit trees, locusts and some oaks on the path to relieve them of their snow load.  The cherries, especially, still have plenty of leaves.

1:45 still snowing

Trees are bending over with the heavy wet snow. Bird bath is completely covered. Chickens still trapped under the truck.

6:00PM  Snow is just about over.  Temperatures hovering around 32 degrees.  A total of 4 inches fell but the warm air and ground are slowly reducing the snow cover.  With 42 degrees expected tomorrow, most of this will melt away.  It will be slushy.  Fog has developed in the valley.

Penn State beat Illinois in the last seconds, sort of like the game we went to in Champaign with Heiner and Fass's when Shannon was a freshman and Penn State won in the last 6 seconds.  JoePa gets 409 wins.

Bad News Bears

At chicken wake up this morning I was the one who had the wake up!  A board protecting the front door hinge had been torn off, but the big surprise occurred when I opened the door.  Both windows were ripped out and lay, in shards, outside the coop. The screens, fan, and light were also asunder.  Not good. As far as I could tell all hens were present, although they burst out the door as if, ...a bear perhaps, were after them.  I saw no blood or extra feathers, and no scratches on the coop sides.

Paul attached 2x4s to the sides of the windows and then screwed plywood panels to the outside (3/8 inch) and inside (3/4 inch) to cover the openings as a temporary fix.

Eggs

11 today (3 Barred Rock, 2 Golden Comets, 3 Marans, 5 Rhode Island Red) but still no blue (4 Ameraucaner).  Is that a record?

Reading  Through the Fire *** Shawn Grady Adrian “A-O” O’Neill comes from a long line of Reno firefighters. A day before the 10-year anniversary of his dad’s death in a fire, A-O defies orders and attempts to rescue a child thought to be trapped in a burning house. His actions get him suspended, prompting a trip to Mexico to visit his uncle, yet another ex-fireman. While there, A-O puts his own life in peril once again to save a drowning boy. Will this successful rescue save him from his guilt over all that has gone wrong at home? Apparently not. Never completely recovering from the loss of his father caused him to lose his fiancée and possibly his nerve, for now the idea of entering a blaze terrifies him. Enter Julianne Caldwell, a fire-prevention analyst, who helps A-O find the faith to work through his demons, even as an arsonist terrorizes the town. PS: he finds the arsonist and a new love.--Mary Frances Wilkens (BookList)

Outside finally

We switched the RIRs to the coop, and the Ameracaners are now big enough for the tractor.  They out grew the Rubbermaid tub in the basement a week ago.  It's going down to the mid 40s tonight so we put a tarp over the whole tractor and plenty of straw for their bed.
We kept the tractor closed all day yesterday and today to encourage the RIRs to move willingly to the coop.  Didn't work, so I let them in and when they were settled, grabbed them by their legs and carried them to the coop.  One had decided she needed to go to bed when the door was still closed so she wiggled her way to the top between the chicken wire and the tarp. I could hear her but couldn't see her for the longest time.

Reading The Dead Saint Marilyn Brown Oden *** New Orleans football great killed protecting a secret society.  Woman bishop becomes undercover courier for woman president on a search for the killers.  Family ties and destructiveness of hatred and revenge as well as not so subtle faith in God run as themes through this fair book.

And now there are 8

Post to the Backyardchicken forum:

I have a 3 yo red sex link (ie golden comet) hen who started out with sour crop.  It was huge and liquidy, so I isolated her, withdrew food, put poly vi sol in her water and massaged her crop. Also I kept her in muted light.  Crop seemed to go down.  Day 3, morning, I gave her an egg and some yogurt as her  keel was poking out.  Her butt was dirty but not especially unusually so. I cleaned it as much as I could.  She seemed unbalanced then and very quiet.  She let me poke, prod and massage with not a peep or squawk.
Day 5 I found dried egg on her butt, she wobbles and can't stand up, and her toes are curled.  I don't feel any egg shell around her vent although I think there was some in her tail feathers.  I gave her a warm water sitze bath, just her butt, not up to her shoulders as was suggested in one post. Then I put her under a heat lamp to dry off.
What am I missing?  Anything else to do?  She hasn't gotten any worse as her symptoms have changed.  She still drinks and pecks at the yogurt, but can't walk to it.  I feed Dumor layer pellets with free choice calcium.  She free-ranges.  None of her 8 sisters have developed these problems.  Poop is squirty, liquidy and has green parts. Poop smells chemical-like.

Although I got several suggestions, she was on a slow decline. I culled her tonight. RIP.
It's a good thing we have 5 Rhode Island Reds and 4 Ameracanas coming on this summer.

Released oak measures: 34" circum, first oak at bottom of new trail. 41" circum oak by rock; 47.5" circum 4 rocks; 41.5 oak at top of new trail; 22" cherry at top of trail

Reading Perfect Crime * Jack Erickson Woman executes her husband and almost gets way. Poorly edited; short story but there wasn't much to it.  It interesting that the glowing reviews on Amazon can only say "loved it" or "quick read".

Ameracanas

Four day olds to add to the flock. They have different markings and the beginnings of ear muffs.

Bear

Gambol and I collected 1/2 sunflower seed bag of garlic mustard (I weeded; he chased 2 turtles) in the meadow.  The soil is just right for weeding and the flowers are showy now.  I put the bag by the garage door, under the deck so it could dry for burning this weekend.  The next morning the bag was gone!  Paul didn't know anything about it;  he didn't see it on his dog walks through the day.  How could a bear carry off a bag that heavy...and wouldn't you think the garlic mustard would far out-smell residual sunflower seed odors?
I found the torn apart bag 50 feet from the chicken coop,  behind the stumps, mustard in a fairly neat pile, the only green stuff in that area.
Today a 2" diameter aspen near the coop was broken off at about 12" off the ground. No aspens in the meadow have been bothered (yet).
I guess Brittanys don't feel the need to warn us that bears are in the 'hood; we haven't heard a sound from them.
We've only had 2 small caterpillar tents so far.  We crushed a lot last year so perhaps our cherries will be healthier this year. We are noticing more seedlings in the forest.
Paul made grilled asparagus with romano cheese and a spray of balsamic vinegar to finish.  The purple color stays bright.  He also found FOY 4 black morel mushrooms under some may apples and sauteed them with onions.  A spring delight.
FOY scarlet tanager and 3 black rat snakes

Squirrel

Gambol brought me a dead but warm squirrel on Saturday early morning, a very nice present because I know how much they mean to him.  Then Sunday night he caught fur and has a bite on his mouth to prove it.  I watched this tussle;  Gambol was within 3 feet of the dang-blasted mammal 3 times but just couldn't quite do the deed.
Asparagus and ham fritatta planned for dinner but just as I opened the egg carton the electricity went out (and the generator went on but the stove isn't on that line) so we had the fritatta minus the egg.
Chicks are outside permanently now.  They are snuggled in the chicken tractor with a nice load of shavings. It was 65 last night and even though it rained a bit, they seemed happy with their space.
Easter flowers are blooming at the Barony.

 May apples (Podophyllum peltatum), neither in May nor apples but a sure sign of spring.

 Grape hyacinth (Muscari)

 Virginia Blue Bells (Mertensia)

 Daffodils (Narcissus)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)