As I live in Christchurch, New Zealand, I am sure its common knowledge what's been happening with our shaky ground in the past 9 months. Anyway, I started having backyard chickens in March this year, So it was after the big earthquakes and its always been a bit worrying for me about what will happen if something of a decent magnitude hits here again and I'm not home for the chooks. Well that happened today, A 5.5 and a 6.0 while we were at the hospital. I was freaking out thinking something had happened to them (You know you're obsessed with chickens when they're the main thing on your mind after natural disasters happen
) , Maybe they were in the coop and it collapsed on them, Maybe one of the fences broke and a dog or similar got in and attacked them, Maybe they got out, Maybe the gate shook open and they got into the front of the property and then onto the street, Maybe liquefaction had killed them. The thoughts that were running through my mind, I was expecting the worst when we made it home 4 hours later! Jumped out of the car and sped over to the run to find them all having fun foraging and having dust baths like nothing ever happened. After we got home we ran into my elderly neighbour and she said she wasn't sure if we were home but the first thing she did after the aftershock hit was come over and check on our chickens. Makes me feel so much more at ease knowing there is another pair of eyes looking out for my children
and that they know where its safe when something happens and I don't have to be there to help them
