Got up to let everyone out and see the barn door standing open. I check on the boys, because if they get up early, they go see everyone. They're 8 and 10 and sound asleep.
Everything is deathly quiet. I go through my checklist of last night, and definitely know I locked everyone up. I call and call, nothing. Not even the geese. I see some white feathers up by the barn, but no bodies. I look inside, and see nothing. No bodies, no birds. Then, up in the rafters, I see Petunia, my baby for over a year. Then, I see the young guinea there, too. I am still confused...where could everyone be?
I walk around the barn, and find guinea feathers...lots of guinea feathers. No body. Weird. More white feathers, a lot more. Then, I find my black Andalusian pullet, dead, wedged into a corner without a mark on her. It almost looks like she died of fright. She's stiff, so it's been a few hours since this happened.
I start walking towards the road, hoping I see something. Where could the geese be?? They should have been the first bodies I found. At the road, DH yells for me. He's found a pile of feathers by the front door. I go back, and it's Dierk. The chicken love of my life. No body, just all of his feathers in a pile, next to one of the Barred Rock's feather pile.
At this point I am just wandering around in shock. Why would someone open the barn to kill my chickens? Who would have done it? WHY???
My oldest son comes out and cries when I tell him what happened. This is the second time this year. But this, a human had to open the door. No animal could do it, not even a raccoon.
We head into the woods to look, and out of nowhere, my RIR, Rudy comes running towards us. I yell for her, and we hear the geese. They had gone into the creek with 2 white rock roos. We grab everyone up and head back to the barn. No one wants to go in, they want to stay with me, but I make them go in.
I am at a loss as to what happened to the 14 nine week old chickens are. I have still only found 1 body, so I am missing 8 almost grown chickens, 14 babies, and a guinea.
Maybe they are in the woods...maybe someone stole them...all I know is that I will be spending my day wandering the woods looking and hoping I find some more survivors. I will also get the padlock on the door, but if they want in, they can snap it easily. Anyone can get in if they really want to.
I am debating whether or not to replace. This is just about too much.
Shelly
Everything is deathly quiet. I go through my checklist of last night, and definitely know I locked everyone up. I call and call, nothing. Not even the geese. I see some white feathers up by the barn, but no bodies. I look inside, and see nothing. No bodies, no birds. Then, up in the rafters, I see Petunia, my baby for over a year. Then, I see the young guinea there, too. I am still confused...where could everyone be?
I walk around the barn, and find guinea feathers...lots of guinea feathers. No body. Weird. More white feathers, a lot more. Then, I find my black Andalusian pullet, dead, wedged into a corner without a mark on her. It almost looks like she died of fright. She's stiff, so it's been a few hours since this happened.
I start walking towards the road, hoping I see something. Where could the geese be?? They should have been the first bodies I found. At the road, DH yells for me. He's found a pile of feathers by the front door. I go back, and it's Dierk. The chicken love of my life. No body, just all of his feathers in a pile, next to one of the Barred Rock's feather pile.
At this point I am just wandering around in shock. Why would someone open the barn to kill my chickens? Who would have done it? WHY???
My oldest son comes out and cries when I tell him what happened. This is the second time this year. But this, a human had to open the door. No animal could do it, not even a raccoon.
We head into the woods to look, and out of nowhere, my RIR, Rudy comes running towards us. I yell for her, and we hear the geese. They had gone into the creek with 2 white rock roos. We grab everyone up and head back to the barn. No one wants to go in, they want to stay with me, but I make them go in.
I am at a loss as to what happened to the 14 nine week old chickens are. I have still only found 1 body, so I am missing 8 almost grown chickens, 14 babies, and a guinea.
Maybe they are in the woods...maybe someone stole them...all I know is that I will be spending my day wandering the woods looking and hoping I find some more survivors. I will also get the padlock on the door, but if they want in, they can snap it easily. Anyone can get in if they really want to.
I am debating whether or not to replace. This is just about too much.
Shelly
