Came home tonight after tai chi class... it was close to 11 p.m., and when I went to lock the hens in for the night, I quickly realized I needed to do a headcount... there were feathers strewn all over the pen. We are one hen short tonight. It appears a predator dug under the gate. I am so very very grateful that only one hen is gone (a mink would've killed them all - quickly. I'm wondering if it was a raccoon?). Tomorrow I'll be doing some serious reinforcement under that gate!! I'm not sure which hen is gone - probably the one who was always last to go in... I'm really not sure. But I *am* a little shaken. When I was driving to pick up the kids after class, I had a thought (shortly after 9 p.m.) that the chickens were in danger and I was going to be met with a bloodbath at home. I discredited that thought - ohhhh, you always think something's going to happen, I told myself. That's my higher Self trying to communicate, though. It's happened before - these seemingly random thoughts *pop* into my head, and I quickly discredit them, but they're so out-of-the-blue that I can tell you exactly what I was doing, where I was, when I received the message. In this case, even listening to my intuition wasn't about to stop what happened. Just sad, that's all.
And so tonight I honour and respect the life of our brave little hen.
2 comments:
:(
At least a hungry (and probably cold) wild animal was able to eat, I guess...
David and I want to get hens because that's the only way I'll feel comfortable with eating eggs. He says he wants to name one "Henya" - after the singer Enya... XD I love him.
lol, henya? that's awesome! the kids and i read the sweetest kids' book (scottish) about chickens: hanne's quest, so i tend to call them all 'hanne' in hopes that they'll all grow up to be heroines! :) the story is by olivier dunrea and you might borrow a copy from the library. seriously, hanne's courage and stamina are inspirational.
i heard in denmark the govt gave each household one chicken to reduce household wastes in the garbage system... the idea being to use the chicken as a live composter. even people in apartments got one, as far as i know.
Check out Omlet Coops online for awesome urban small coops that are suitable for apartment balconies! tres chic!
i don't eat our eggs, but i can say that we have some very very happy, well-loved and looked-after hens... far more-so than your average store-bought egg, that's for sure. i can sit on a stool in the hen yard and they will all come up and chat and cuddle with me.... being hand-raised makes a huge difference. i thank them every day for contributing their eggs to us and although ds and dh eat the eggs, we sell most at the end of our driveway to the neighbours.
i realized after this incident that i felt so totally responsible (and guilty, i guess)... that i hadn't done more to protect them.
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