The Spess Gang and most of my Small Town World is in mourning this week.
Remember when I told you about Dad’s chickens? He loves those babies! He’s had a ton of fun, raising them and figuring out the best way to keep them.
He shared a ton of eggs. He shared with his kids (yay!) his employees and friends.
And we all adored him for it.
At first, the eggs were itty-bitty, but they got bigger. Much bigger.
Dad and his wife discovered if the chickens got to range a little in their yard, they’d eat some green growing things and make the eggs even better and more nutritious.
So the other morning he turned his hens out to forage–all twenty-nine of them–and went inside to eat breakfast and get ready for work. A while later, he went out to put them back inside as he left for work when he saw something that didn’t belong.
A four legged critter with a furry tail. Coyote! She had chicken dinner for breakfast.
😦
When he got to the scene, he found one dead hen, a pile of feathers and 12 hens sitting in the trees and other hard to reach places. Since one scrawny coyote probably couldn’t eat that many chickens, Dad figures there was a whole gang of them. (I’ve been told coyotes run in packs, not gangs, but I think street terminology fits here.)
One hen did limp home the next day, but that’s it. Only thirteen hens, and somewhere, not far away, a pack/gang/gaggle of really fat coyotes.
We’re hoping to relocate a few wild dogs.
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Susan Spess Shay 
March 4, 2013 at 8:03 am
Oh noooooooo!
March 6, 2013 at 7:43 am
I know. We’re still crying over the little hens. 😦
March 4, 2013 at 12:52 pm
I remember your story about Carol’s chickens and thought about how we like free range chickens and eggs. So sorry about their doom. Sure they were pretty much pets too. They’ll have to name the last one ‘Miss Survivor.’
March 6, 2013 at 7:45 am
He has 13 left, Bea. The one who limped home is definitely Ms. Survivor, though! I’ll tell him her name. 🙂
March 4, 2013 at 10:05 pm
Your dad will have to fence a bigger piece of range. Maybe that will slow the coyates down.
March 6, 2013 at 7:45 am
Either that or stand guard while they’re at the salad bar. I wonder if he has a gun?
March 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm
My coworker said he’d come out this weekend, camp on their land, and rid them of their pesky critter problem. Let me know if they want to have that happen, he’s really pumped up about it. And we all want Coyote-skin hats.
March 6, 2013 at 7:47 am
Dad had a couple of our guys hunting them. I’d hate for one group of hunters to target the other. (Dad’s got dibs on the pelt.) 🙂 But tell your co-worker thanks!