End of my chicken-keeping - tropical storm Lee - UPDATE!

[LisaAnnW]

How terrible...just heartbreaking. Our thoughts are with you. Be careful in the clean-up!!

 

[FarmCoe]

Keep us updated!

 

[mulewagon]

Oh, my, are we wet and cold! But we have the chickens fenced off in the upper part of the pen, with a little bit of jury-rigged wire that won't keep a kitten out, not to mention the looming tree branches right outside, all ready for preds to climb. Just hoping the dog keeps them away, and doesn't decide to investigate the new setup himself!

I had stuck one of the roosters back in the rooster ring this morning, so they won't fight (I had let him out last night when the wind rose). But I didn't have anything to cover it with, so he sat out in the rain all day while we went to get supplies (the tarp is of course ruined, too). He was pitiful when we got back, soaked through and unresponsive. So we traded roosters out and chivvied the wet one around the pen until he started to take an interest.

They'll have to shelter under the feeding station. We nailed up a crossbar for a roost, and there's a pallet, and I arranged the feed bins into a windbreak. So I hope they'll pile up together and stay warm. It's not very cold for chickens, of course, but as the rooster showed, shock plus soaking plus cold wind is not good.

The mama and little babies are dead - the metal nest box is squashed like a pancake, and that's where they were. There wasn't any sound from them this morning.

On the bright side, when the girls found they couldn't get into the nest box, they found a cage and four of them laid in there today! I wouldn't have been surprised if they didn't lay for a week after this, but Buff Orps are tough!

So! Maybe I'm still keeping chickens, after all. It'll be one day at a time, of course, but then it always is!

Thanks, everyone, for your good wishes. I'll let you know how they do.

 

[mulewagon]

...And I go out to feed Mr. Giant Puppy his supper. He's nosing at something on the ground...it's a dead chick. Oh, great. I grab his collar and tell him "Off!" (a command he obeys perfectly well with a doggie biscuit). No dice. He's no fool, this is a perfectly good chicken. He stands there with his jaw clenched. I jab at his jaw hinge and pry at his mouth, while he waits patiently for me to finish my little game. As soon as I try to walk him away, he swallows the chick whole.

So I fetch my husband and we go back down to the pen. Badger runs ahead of us, and dives into the debris to come up with another dead chick, which he runs off with. I try to count the remaining chickens, and I don't think any are missing. He must be finding the dead ones. Great, great, great. He's eating dead chicks while looking at our flimsy replacement fence. Wonderful lesson.

Back at the house, Badger (a hefty 80-90 pounds at 9 months) comes up with his prize. I grab for him, and he ducks away and starts frantically digging a hole. So I grab him and start the "Off!" game again. Nope, he's still no fool. So my husband shakes the chick away from him (actually gets a small growl, which is a first from calm Badger). After the chick is buried and he's let out of kennel, he's Mr. Happy Puppy again.

After I come in, Badger appears at the door and looks wistful. So I show him a biscuit, and do the "Take it - off! - take it" routine. He is, as always, perfect. Except with chickens.

(I decided not to lock him up for the night. We won't have any better fence tomorrow - we can't afford any more dogwire right now and it will be a while before we've cleared out enough debris to drag big logs along the outside. So there's no point - either he'll get in or he won't. We've done all we can. But next year's pen will be hotwired.)

 

[fuzziebutt]

Where in Alabama are you located?

 

[mulewagon]

We're near Gadsden - across from Mountaintop Flea Market. Nice and hilly! My parents are in Birmingham, and say they haven't seen wind like this in years, but luckily didn't have any damage. We aren't that badly off - someone down the road had two cars crushed last night, and other folks have no power. So I'm not complaining (much!) just tired.

 

[fuzziebutt]

I have a dear friend that sets up at Mountaintop every Sunday! Sorry about your chickens. I wish I was close enough to help, I am in Marion county, nearly in Mississippi!

 

[DinosRBirds]

Im so sorry for your loss. Good luck. Your local tsc should have hotwire and chicken wire. You can also order from tsc online. It must be hard on you, but you could probably buy that stuff.also, if you have live traps, set them far from the coop and maybe you'll catch some locals. The predators will most likely be looking for easy targets after a storm like that.

 

[openheartnp]

Sorry for your losses. I know you worked your tail off and got the others safe, I hope you get some rest tonight. Hugs from NJ