Chicken Losses

A couple weeks ago, my family went to a family reunion of sorts in Texas. We stayed for five days and really had a very good time... except for the call we got on Friday from the person who was feeding the dogs and collecting eggs from the chicken coop. Apparently some of the chickens got out (I won't get into how it happened), and the dogs killed them. At first it was only two. Then when she came back the next day, she found another. It must have been hiding when she was there and tried to get back in the run later. This has left me with only four chickens. Not only were almost half my chickens dead, but my dogs caused some minor injuries to each other; most likely while fighting over the dead chickens.

We have doctored the dogs and they will be fine, but nothing can bring back the chickens. It took me two years to get chickens to laying age that laid green eggs and now they are both gone (the first Easter Eggers I had laid cream colored eggs). All of the chickens were at prime laying age. I can't even start over with chicks right now because it will soon be too cold to brood them outside and I don't like having chicks in the house. We just got rid of our brooder box anyway so I will end up having to make another one in the spring. I probably won't be able to give eggs to friends and neighbors throughout the winter as two of the girls who are left are starting to molt and aren't breeds that lay well over the winter anyway. All around, it just stinks.

Goodbye girls, sorry you had such rotten end.