Fowl Week

Some of the older girls

I haven't yet introduced my flock of chickens. Now I call them "the girls". I have now 29 hens and one rooster. 14 of the girls are older hens and I added 15 new girls just recently.


These are a few of the new girls

Aren't they just gorgeous. I do not have names for them except for the rooster. He thinks he is such a stud, so my husband has named him.


Here he is the "LOVE MACHINE"



 So that's him, Love Machine. Quite a looker.

Well the girls have had a very trying week.  I told you about last Friday and the SKUNK. Now if that was not enough. We had a raccoon get one of the hens. One of the older girls. I have been lucky (really should say the girls have been lucky), this is the first time this year for the raccoons. Usually around Mother's day we'll lose one or two. That is not the fun part to raising chickens. I do not like losing any of them.

Then the other day I went in to the hen house to collect the eggs and notice one of the golf balls was gone. It's not the first time, a couple of weeks ago I lost 4. Now you see I put golf balls in the nests to detour the snakes. Black snakes have a great fondness for eggs. Boy can they swallow a bunch. I've seen with up to 5 inside them.



Here are 2 golf balls in a nest



I have a friend who gave me a dozen or so golf balls last year. At this rate I going to have ask her for some more. Any hoot, after noticing the missing golf ball I was leaving the hen house and there by the door was the culprit. A BIG BLACK SNAKE, oh I do not like snakes.



EGG THIEF



The picture is not clear or close up. Forgive me but I really do not like snakes and I just could not get close enough for a good shot with my phone. But if you look close, in it's gut is a golf ball. It's right there on the right side where it bends. A bulge is slightly noticeable. Now I hope you understand that there is no way I am going to live trap a snake and relocate it like I do the other critters. So if you are snake lover stop reading now. You do not want to hear this. My husband took care of him for me. I was ready with my 22. at a safe distance of course but being the man that he is, he did the deed for me.

So you see, it has been an exciting week for the girls. Then on top of this, they do not lay as many eggs because of the heat and then the snake. Snakes scares them.

Hopefully next week will just be an uneventful week for them.

Till next time

Kat

=^..^=



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