Free Range Chickens: Some Ups and Downs.
I can't say I remember too much about what it was like breaking out of that yolky shell and seeing light for the first time. I do remember feeling free, the sensation of air on my fluffy down, and the noise. I had to join in with the joyful chirping. Just couldn't help myself.
In no time at all my fellow noisemakers and I were gathered together and enclosed in a container and transported to a new location. It was a real depot. Things were so busy, all kinds of hustling about until I was with 2 others, and we were brought HOME.
My first day! and here I am home safe in the hands of Grandpa Phil.
We settled right in with satisfying crunchy food, fresh water and comfortable bedding.
Brightly and Victoria sampled the chick food right away and it was good!
(Now Silas begins typing in his own words. We'll call him @schick for today.)
we like to rest in our comfy new beding
one day msr.caretaker put a roosting bar in our box. it was a graet roosting bar.
Our feathers began to develop.
wen 
we groo and groo and groo and groo intil we wer able to go out side and meet Mr. O!.
He was very curious about us and very protective. He didn't let any thing else approach us.
He showed us around and even let us share some of his bugs and fruit and all the other scrumptious things around the yard.
I need to confess now, first of all, that it has been a difficult life for me. Mr. O! left us one day so we no longer had his loud crowing, glaring eyes and protective stance to keep us safe from dogs, foxes and hawks.
Oh, what shall we do on our own?Tragedy!
Then, I don't really know how to explain this, but one day when I was in my private spot, privately laying my egg for the day, I heard a lot of ruckus. I finished my business as soon as I could and ran out to find two dogs, not our dog Cali, but two strange, young, out-of-control dogs, chasing Brightly and Victoria!
OH MY!
It was indeed horrible. I ran up to the highest spot I could find on the deck railing near Cali and KittyKate and we watched in horror as these beasts shook them and left them bloody and broken.
(WARNING! Please do not read the next sentence if you are at all sensitive.)
The snow was all bloody and covered with the feathers of my sisters.
(Photos deleted here due to regulations made up by SOMEONE. Go complain to them if you really want to see the gory mess.)
I really do not like to think about that day! I hovered around near the front door and cried a lot. Eventually I got used to my status as the only chicken --- and I was lonely. Let me tell you so you can feel it...I was LONELY.
Hope arrived one day when I heard chirping coming from the people house. New chicks!!!!!! I fondly remembered the NOISE.
Oh I was lucky; that gave me so much hope!
They grew bigger and stronger and were finally moved into the chicken house. I gladly moved out of the coop so they could settle in, anticipating the day when we could meet beak to beak.
Tragedy Again!
One morning when I was wandering around in the garden I sensed disturbance and hovered 'round near the coop. I looked through the fencing, trembling at the sight of one of those chicks, or some of one of those chicks, actually only the head of one of those chicks.
I saw a fox pacing back and forth in the distance.
Later that day I was carried back into the cleaned coop with new bedding and, oh well, how can I say it?
Those new little chickens I had been so longing to meet and show around and make friends with...they were gone
and once again I was alone.
And stuck inside the coop!
I was miserable.
Terror!
Soon I was allowed into the yard again.
A big dog came up out of the woods and ran at me, mouth open, teeth biting. He got ahold of my tail feathers and one of my wings.
Another thing I must confess:
I have inherited super powers from the Buff.
I used them to escape! I have quick reflexes, excellent eyesight, and mighty feet.
I flew around, spinning so fast that I tired out that dog. I stopped flying in circles and spun him around. He had to let go of me as he was slammed to the ground face first. (Sorry for this violent description but it did happen this way.)
He jumped up and ran off.
I escaped!
I ran, wounded as I was, and hid in the back woods for so long. Oh, it hurt so much and my tail end was cold. Dogs!, the bane of my existence.
I came out eventually as I heard @bchick calling me. I crouched down in front of her and she picked me up.
And there I was, stuck in the coop again. I do not like that coop! but at least it was safe.
Now I have a little run but I could at least fly over the fence into the newly planted garden where the little greens were so tasty. I cannot tell you how frustrating it was as more and more fences were put up and I could see all that good green stuff growing, delectable worms just peaking out of the rich soil, all almost within reach, but not actually reachable anymore.
Indignity after indignity, and then what little I had left of my wings were clipped.
Photo credit @schick
Before the attack, fully featheredOh well. @bchick came out often to visit and I pecked at the special treats she brought. I got seeds and leftover bread, and fruit ...all kinds of tasty treats. I figured out that all I had to do was give a big squawk! and out she came, bearing more treats.
I had her trained! Ha Ha!
It is terrifying out here. Maybe this little place I am enclosed in, once again, is not so bad after all.
Enclosures, Terror, DOGS! but HOPE
great content!
Thank you for reading our story.
Oh bchick so glad to read your story. Silas and you make a good team ( grandpa too). Even though there is sadness we cannot feel the joy without it. Lee is a survivor and although she misses the others- she in never really lonely she has you! Thanks for posting this heartfelt story. Give Lee a hug from me and the girls🐓
Thank you.
And Hope.
Maybe someone will be in need of re-housing for their chickens soon.
Excellent. I'll save my fox / chicken story for some other time. Sad and gross. We're in the final stages of finishing our chicken house!
If I had only known back then what we were getting into...
Looking forward to your story about foxes and chickens. Sharing these stories in whatever shape they come in is good.
Very good story, I faced similar issues with mine free ranging. The six foot privacy fence kept the dogs away but feral cats have killed 3 chickens and destroyed parts of my garden. Now sadly mine are cooped but I did build them a run that is covered on all sides including top so they can stay safe.
Why did we not read about these dangers at the beginning? Or why did we ignore them?
The idea of free range is so enticing.
And the eggs are so good.
It is fun to share your yard with a few chickens.
All impractical in the end but, except for the two who were senselessly killed by hunting dogs, at least some one got to eat.
Sustainability: Part of the natural cycle.
Excellent story telling!
Why thank you!
That is about the long and short of life I suppose...
Up and Downs, Long and Short.
Ideal and Real.
Very good write-up. I had a unknown dog dig into my chicken coup and try it's best to kill my birds. Luckily all 21 chickens escaped up into the bamboo roost. I ran out hollering at the dog and it came running out at me. Long story short the dog was dispatched.
BTW death is part of homesteading and if some snowflake can't handle that then they shouldn't be reading these type of posts. Pictures just help tell the story.
Thanks.
Because my 7 year old grandson named these chicks Lee, Brightly, and Victoria, and was with me to write this third Chick Story we had to consider that some children might be reading it or looking at the pictures while having it read to them...
Universal audience. appeals to those considering free range but told as a story.
I was so innocent with the first batch of chickens...
Lol our innocence carried through to the second batch. Our first group is still going strong with zero loses. The second group, our meat chickens, had 22 out of 30 killed in two nights. We still don't know what did it.
Excellent story @bchick. Luckily we don't have dogs around here, only foxes and buzzards.
Thank you. Silas and I spent time on it every day that he was here. He had a big influence on the writing.
In the beginning I thought that free range was the only way to go but I have since changed my mind.
Next year the whole run and garden set up will have to change but it has been a hard lesson to learn.
I raised chicken for most of the 20 years that I lived in the country. In that time, I shot several skunks, one of which was in the chicken coop when I shot it. That was rather stinky for several weeks. I trapped a mangy coyote that was killing chickens, shot 1 dog that got into the coop, and lost a fair amount of free range chickens to the local coyotes before I figured out what was going on. I lost a couple to owls because the chickens were dumb enough to roost on the roof of the chicken coop.
Raising chickens is an adventure!
It is indeed an adventure. Lee is teaching me just how to behave.
Owls! We do have owls in the woods surrounding the open part we use for the gardens and orchards. I did not know they were predators. This is a small owl, at least the one we have seen.
I have expanded her run with a little door cut out in the fence to include one part of the garden so she is a little more content. If we get more (when we get more) we are considering a solar powered fence so she has more room. It is way too hilly for a chicken tractor up here.
How did a dog get into the coop?
My chicken coop was basically half of a shed that I built so that I would have room for 25 chickens at a time. I would leave the door open during the day so the chickens could roam around the barnyard. They liked digging around in the horse poop, looking for bugs. It was the middle of the day, the dog just went in through the open door. I heard the chickens squalking and grabbed the shotgun on the way out to investigate.
Excellent story! upvote and resteemed by fellow #thl member
Thank you. Did your kids get to read it?
Not yet, I've been at work all day, pulling a double...16 hours in the jail. uuggghhhh!