Well I guess I'm just having crappy chicken luck this summer. I had a dentist appointment this morning, so I didn't get out to check on the birds this morning. When I got home, I was checking on the juveniles and glanced out the window to see my EE cockerel in the corner of the run, clearly dead. Yep. One of the 3 birds that survived the dog attack in July. I immediately went out to check for the pullet (my one remaining quality BLRW) and found her huddled up in their coop. Got her out, looked her over (she's fine), and put her in a more secure run, and put the 2 white silkie juveniles I have in with her. Judging by the damage to the cockerel, I'm guessing it was a coon. No head, front ripped open, organs 6 feet away, feathers everywhere. It must have been in there this morning when the dogs were let out and they scared it off. That's the only thing I can figure since it didn't go after the pullet. No big loss there as I had the cockerel listed for free-for-the-taking on CL, but still disappointing because NOW a predator knows where to get play-things. Yesterday when I was checking on the LITTLE chicks (the ones that DH and DS had to round up on Sunday while I was at work) , I climbed up into the coop to fill the feeder to find one floating in the water bucket. So there goes another bird. I think I might put the 6 POL pullets in with the big girls tonight simply because the big coop can't be dug into, or fencing pulled off for something to get in. They're the same size as the hens, so hopefully they hold their own and figure things out without any bloodshed.
