The other day I came home to a story from my husband. There had been a fox, in broad daylight in the yard and yes, he got one of our chickens, apparently taking the head and a wing. I was hoping it was one of the chicks that's starting to look like a rooster, but alas it was our smallest little cochin bantam who still gets out of the fencing from time to time. Which is probably how the fox got her. Luckily we've been keeping our girls in their enclosure lately, since the neighbors kindly asked if our wandering brood could stay out of their yard. Probably saved most of our flock.
So now we have 13 chickens and that's too many for our coop in the height of winter. We can tell that at least 3 of the new chicks are roosters and there's probably another one mixed in the lot so I know that before the snow flies we'll be slaughtering here at 3 Brighton Avenue. I've never done this before, but we decided as the baby chicks were hatching we would not be naming them, and that we were going to learn how to care take the full cycle of life. I am interested in understanding the death of the animal that I'll be consuming. So that's a big next step for me. It's something I've been processing more and more as I watch the combs grow on the roosters, watch little alpha fights in the yard and see how crowded the girls are in their coop. I feel myself preparing for a step I do not take lightly and feel some trepidation about, however it's a step closer to my food chain and I am very interested in that.
Sorry to hear about that chicken. We lost another one recently, too. The fox are extremely brazen here on the island. Fortunately, it was when they were "ranging." The fox still haven't found a way inside their pen or coop, and I don't think they will. They're pretty solid!
ReplyDeleteProud of you for taking the next step...