And then there were Five

I know I try to come off as a farm girl wannabe, but I’m a fake.  You see, I get attached.

When we came home from our trip to Fort Kent that first weekend, we discovered two of our chickens had been snatched.  Tallulah and Maisy were my two favorites.  They were the friendliest of the group, they let Monkey chase them around the yard – AND catch them, and Tallulah was my best layer.  I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me because it did. 

We had our suspicions as to what happened to them, but no concrete proof…  until that night.  It was about 8:30.  T and the kids were all in bed (we’d had a late night the night before!) and I was watching the Miss America Pageant.  I heard a fast rapping at my door and tried to convince myself I was hearing things in the dark.  Then another fast rapping.  So I hissed through our dark house to T that there was someone at the door.  Why?  Because no one ever comes to our house unannounced – and especially not after dark. 

It was our neighbor to tell us something had our chickens.  So I ran to our bedroom to wake up T, tossed on some shoes and took off through my backyard at a run, grabbing a shovel on my way.  A shovel, but no flashlight.  I do great in an emergency situation, don’t I?

The short of it is we discovered a raccoon in our henhouse.  T dispatched it and went back to bed. 

 

As you can see, there was no door on the henhouse.  That opening stays open all the time into their enclosed pen.  The raccoon was able to dig under the pen and go right into their house.  They were sitting ducks…. err…  chickens. 

After some brainstorming the next day, I was convinced I was going to build a door of some sort to go lock them in every night.  When I told T of my plan, he told me he knew what I was talking about.  That night, he put a door on for me. 

So, every night after I’ve tucked my kids into bed, I now go outside to tuck my girls in.  We discovered new raccoon scratching all over the henhouse this past week, so we need to be extra diligent in locking them up at night.  Someone else has found them and is looking for a free meal.

Apparently, they didn’t get the memo that this diner is closed.