Cheeki
Chirping
I’ll tell you a story. Last fall we were about 6 months into our chicken raising and my coop didn’t have a roof. A big storm was coming and I put some old doors across one end of the coop and covered them with a tarp so my birds would have shelter in the wind and rain.
I went out to check on them and found a baby possum hiding behind a food bucket. I took her inside and let her loose the following morning in a different part of the property.
Fast forward to this spring. I had two mallard ducks and a bantam/ silkie hen all sitting on nests. I get up and find the hen dead and all her eggs broken and cleaned out. I discover that many of the duck eggs are missing too. I let my hens raise their chicks and many of those went missing too. Some were found in the yard dead. Killed for the fun of it.
Then a couple months ago I found a possum in the process of eating more duck eggs on one of my 2am inspection trips to the chicken yard.
I picked it up and put it in a cage. I love all animals. But... this possum had cost me time and a lot of money. I could have sold mallard ducks. All the time and money spent to feed my dead chickens was wasted. I figure I lost about $200 to that possum (at least) I decided to kill it. At first I felt bad, but then I realized it’s my responsibility to protect my birds.
I’m the same way with roosters that abuse and kill my hens. I draw the line when it comes to the amount of time, energy and money I put into my birds.
I went out to check on them and found a baby possum hiding behind a food bucket. I took her inside and let her loose the following morning in a different part of the property.
Fast forward to this spring. I had two mallard ducks and a bantam/ silkie hen all sitting on nests. I get up and find the hen dead and all her eggs broken and cleaned out. I discover that many of the duck eggs are missing too. I let my hens raise their chicks and many of those went missing too. Some were found in the yard dead. Killed for the fun of it.
Then a couple months ago I found a possum in the process of eating more duck eggs on one of my 2am inspection trips to the chicken yard.
I picked it up and put it in a cage. I love all animals. But... this possum had cost me time and a lot of money. I could have sold mallard ducks. All the time and money spent to feed my dead chickens was wasted. I figure I lost about $200 to that possum (at least) I decided to kill it. At first I felt bad, but then I realized it’s my responsibility to protect my birds.
I’m the same way with roosters that abuse and kill my hens. I draw the line when it comes to the amount of time, energy and money I put into my birds.
