My chicken diary... One chick's journey

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Then a major disaster happened. A raccoon (I believe) found a weak spot in the chicken wire covering the run. I went out in the morning to let them range to find my Yzma (my avatar) dead and another with her neck obviously broke but not dead. She was flopping around and I freaked. I was kind of hysterical and called my daughter. While on the phone with her I realized Helios was missing. Only a couple feathers remained. Ashly immediately drove the 2 hours to get here and put the girl with the broken neck down for me.

While she was here, we investigated the crime scene. There was very little blood. Somehow no other birds died. After researching we decided it must have been a raccoon. We also decided that the reason the whole flock wasnt decimated was because Helios attacked the assailant.
 
Omg.... I forgot something important. My Aspen had gone broody and was setting on 12 eggs (including 4 from the fridge) and had been seperated from the others because she was set to hatch within days of the attack. She was setting on eggs from Yzma and Brigit who died. So I have the offspring of my lost birds.
 
Anyway, another major overhaul took place that day. The top of the run had been chicken wire run over the top. Well the entire run was framed top and bottom and I set rat traps. The culprit returned multiple times. Setting off traps but never getting back in.
 
Oh geez. I think my timeline is off. My memory isnt as good as it once was. For one, Helios was still around when they hatched because I remember him being a great dad. Also, I had been shocked that Aspen and babies were not bothered despite being in the broody hut and closer to the ground. And now that I am thinking about it, I remeber that we decided it must have been because the roost was closer to where the raccoon got in.
 
I apologize for the back and forth, but I need to add my broody. Aspen hatched 8 of the 12, including 2 from the fridge. I hadnt been prepared for a broody and didnt have enough eggs. It was extremely hot and I didnt want her to brood any longer than neccessary, so I added eggs for 2 days. I was expecting a staggered hatch and was prepared to keep warm any left after she got off the nest. Only 3 were left as one was an early quitter and exploded some days before. Two days later, there wss a storm that knocked out the power and the eggs got cold. It was day 3. The eggs were cold. I figured they wouldnt hatch.
 
I was in the process of disposing of the eggs when I heard peeping from one of the eggs. I completely panicked. In my head, I saw a baby too cold to hatch suffocating in the egg. I cracked open the two rotten eggs first while looking for the baby - of course. By then my hands were shaking so hard I could barely hold the egg. I wasnt thinking clearly. I should have pipped the egg and warmed it and let it finish hatching on its own. What I did do was break open the egg and run warm water over the baby while the heating pad warmed up. He lived. He was weak at first. I had to keep him inside a few days because of it. The good news was that Momma was so awesome all I had to do was show him to her and she took him right in.
 

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