A lady recently came over and was amazed that I don’t have my chickens closed-in more to protect them from predators.  I told her how I have only lost a couple over the years….in the winter months when food is scare.  That’s the bragging part.

So, I go outside and check on my chickens yesterday morning and one of my baby chicks that was only a week old and an egg were missing.  The momma and her three babies and four eggs were in a “maternity ward” that is 4×4.   I just have some fence up in front of it for easy access for me and it is held closed by a brick on one side so it would be easy for an animal to squeeze in.  It just seemed odd to me though because they are in the center of my Silkie chicken yard.   There is another yard with chicks that are about 3 weeks to 8 weeks old and there are 19 of them.  That chicken yard is on the  outside edge so I would have thought that would be the easiest to get to.

I hope it isn’t my neighbor’s cats that are bothering my chickens.  I recently saw one of them in my chicken yard lurking around.  I assumed it was in there to drink some water.   I hate outdoor cats. One of her cats was lying in my chair on the back porch the other day.  If they aren’t climbing on our cars and leaving foot prints they are roaming around on our property and making my dogs bark.

But, I do love my neighbor….she’s the greatest and she loves all animals big and small so you take the good with the bad.  I must admit, I did shoot at her cat with my little bb gun but I probably couldn’t hit one if I tried.  I just tried to shoot near the cat to scare it.

So, back to my story.  I shifted my chickens around and put the momma and her two babies and eggs into a 4×8 chain link cage and put a lock on it.  I am fearful for my 19 babies now but I will have to wait until the weekend to do anymore safety precautions.  I need my husband’s muscles.   Oops, I forgot he will be working on our riding lawn mower this weekend.  It has been broken for a couple weeks and trying to get the parts…well, hopefully this weekend our lawn will be mowed, too.

Morale of the story:  Don’t brag even if it is the truth.  I should have added how blessed I am not to be losing my chickens.  You think that would have helped????   lol